TOPEKA, Kan.-
Kay O’Connor, an outspoken Republican conservative who once said women’s suffrage was a sign that society didn’t value families enough, is leaving the Kansas Legislature.
O’Connor announced Wednesday that she would resign her Senate seat, probably by the end of October. She acknowledged that her unsuccessful campaign this year for the GOP nomination for secretary of state was a key factor in her decision.
In a letter to supporters, she wrote, “My friends, I am tired.”
She briefly became a national figure in 2001, when she described the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which granted women the right to vote, “a symptom of something I don’t approve of.” She said women wouldn’t need the right if men took care of them adequately.
“The 19th Amendment is around because men weren’t doing their jobs, and I think that’s sad,” she said then. “I believe the man should be the head of the family. The woman should be the heart of the family.”
Early in her career, she became known as “the Voucher Lady” because she was a vocal advocate of giving tax dollars to parents and allowing them to send their children to whatever schools they please, public or private.
O’Connor said she made the decision to retire a few weeks ago, but held off announcing it in hopes she and her supporters would find a like-minded Republican to fill her seat.
She received only 27 percent of the vote in the secretary of state race, and received two ethics fines, both times for illegally soliciting campaign contributions from lobbyists.
“I’m tired of it. I’ve been in the Legislature for 14 years. That’s longer than a lot of people last,” she said. “The secretary of state’s race was not a fun race. When I get shot at by my enemies, I expect that, but I did not expect to be shot at by my friends.”
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