Zahnd Drops Reelection Bid, Ending Budget Tensions

0:00Eric Zahn, Platt County's prosecutor since 2002, dropped his reelection bid Tuesday night, pulling his name from the August primary, ballot just five minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline. First assistant, Mark Gibson, jumped in one minute later, so he'll run unopposed, now that filing closed. This move caps months of tension between Zahn and local Republican leaders over budget fights. The County Commission approved just a 2.5% pay raise for employees, ignoring the 5% push from the auditor. Zahn and Sheriff Eric Holland slammed the decision as a sneaky way to defund the law enforcement and prosecution. They zeroed in on presiding commissioner Scott Fricker, who backed the smaller raise and defended it publicly. Back in February, Zahn yanked his endorsement of Fricker during a commission speech and followed up with a press release showing text exchanges. He even reported Fricker to the sheriff for allegedly hacking his county email to snag a news release for an ethics complaint. With Fricker bowing out of his own race back in March, the dust my settle soon.

1:02But Platt County's political beefs show how local pay squabbles can up end elections. That's your update from Kansas News Today, powered by AI. I'm Cory with the story.