Six
TOPEKA, Kan. (Legal Newsline) - The Kansas Republican Party is calling incumbent Attorney General Steve Six a hypocrite following the airing of a commercial that accuses his Republican opponent of taking campaign donations from payday lenders.
Six has been running a TV commercial that accuses his GOP opponent, state Sen. Derek Schmidt, of taking campaign donations from and supporting legislation that favored payday lenders.
"Steve Six claims to have returned integrity to the Attorney General's Office but this attack shows he is a desperate politician who is hypocritical. Kansans deserve an Attorney General who will lead by example and hold himself to a higher standard," state GOP Executive Director Ashley McMillan said in a statement issued Wednesday.
The GOP's McMillan pointed out that Six, a Democrat, has received at least $10,500 in campaign contributions from payday loan companies in 2009 and 2010.
"Steve Six is pure politics. And Kansans won't be fooled. The money he is using to pay for these attacks ads comes from the same industry he is criticizing," she said.
According to filed finance reports, McMillan said, Six has accepted donations from the following payday loan companies:
* QC Holdings PAC, Overland Park, Kan. -- $500
* DBA VIP CASH II, Las Vegas, Nev. -- $1,000
* TC Loan Service LLC, Fort Worth, Texas -- $2,000
* SPD Financial Services, LLC, Salt Lake City -- $2,000
* Tiger Financial Management/Speedy Cash -- $1,000
* QCH Holdings PAC, Overland Park, Kan. -- $1,000
* PDL Support, LLC, Kansas City, Mo. --$1,000
* RGMI Consulting, Overland Park, Kan. -- $2,000
A spokesman for Six's campaign didn't deny the donations, and instead pointed to Schmidt for backing increasing interest rates for loan companies.
"Derek Schmidt took contributions from payday lenders and supported allowing them to raise interest rates on Kansas consumers to nearly 400 percent," Gavin Young told State of the State KS, a non-partisan news organization in the state.
"As Attorney General, Steve Six has recovered over $30 million on behalf of Kansas consumers," he said. "That's the strong voice for consumers Kansans need in the Attorney General's office."
In turn, Schmidt's campaign manager, Jackie McClaskey, told State of the State that the payday lending vote was intended to create a single interest rate of 15 percent and to protect members of the military from lenders during their service.
From Legal Newsline: Reach Jessica Karmasek by e-mail at jessica@legalnewsline.com.