By:Morgan Chilson
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — The fate of the No Labels Kansas political party will be decided at a Friday meeting after a district court judge refused to intervene in a state official’s decision to dissolve the party.
Kris Van Meteren, owner of the Singularis Group marketing firm, and David Miller, a former Republican representative and chair of the Republican party in the late 1990s, filed for an emergency injunction against Secretary of State Scott Schwab’s actions to eliminate the No Labels Kansas party.
The two, who represented themselves, told Shawnee County District Judge Jay Befort on Thursday that Schwab had no right to dissolve the party and drop 7,400 voters who had registered as No Labels Kansas voters from their affiliation with that party.
In an email to the Kansas Reflector, Van Meteren said they attempted to find lawyers to represent them but no one would take the case.
Van Meteren told Befort that Schwab was asking the court to intervene in an “inherently political system” and said the filing made by Schwab’s attorneys attempted to paint Van Meteren and Miller as “some sort of nefarious characters.”
“The single underlying legal issue is whether the secretary (of state) has any statutory authority to intervene in — take a side in — what at best can be called an intra-party dispute,” Van Meteren said.
Miller agreed.
“If there’s a fight, it’s not a fight for the secretary of state to actively engage in,” he said. “That’s within the political party.”
At issue is Schwab’s decision to dissolve the No Labels Kansas party after an affiliate with the national No Labels political organization alleged nominations made by Van Meteren and Miller were fraudulent.
Schwab declared Van Meteren wasn’t the authentic party chairman of No Labels Kansas, and he invalidated nominations Van Meteren had made.
Miller and Van Meteren argued that Schwab had no authority to involve himself in internal party disputes.
“On what statutory basis is the secretary acting to determine who is legitimate and who is fake?” Van Meteren said. “Who is legitimate and who is not legitimate — that is the fundamental question here today.”
Schwab’s attorneys filed a 104-page response to the request for an injunction, calling Van Meteren and Miller’s assessment of the situation an “alternate reality.”
“In Plaintiff’s universe, he is the Chairman of the officially recognized No Labels Kansas Party; the organization he purports to lead is the lawful successor to that party; and the Secretary unlawfully interfered with the party’s right to nominate candidates for public office,” the filing said. “None of those propositions is remotely true.”
Schwab’s attorneys argued that the original No Labels Kansas party that received recognition from Schwab in 2024 was organized by a different group of individuals.
“Plaintiff was never one of them,” the filing said. “The corporate entities with which Plaintiff and his associates are affiliated were never recognized as political parties under Kansas law.”
Schwab attorney Bradley Schlozman told the judge that Schwab acted at the request of the legitimate No Labels party.
Van Meteren argued that Schwab had no right to decide who was a party member or to rule that the party didn’t declare candidates. He also said the person who told Schwab that Van Meteren and Miller’s claims to lead the party weren’t accurate was never a declared No Labels Kansas member.
Schlozman said the dispute was referred to the State Objections Board, as was appropriate for dealing with cases like this, and Miller and Van Meteren’s complaints were scheduled to be heard at 2 p.m. Friday.
Befort ruled that Miller and Van Meteren’s request for an injunction didn’t meet key factors required for him to proceed, telling the two men the remedy to their complaints would lie with the Objections Board.
Van Meteren and Miller had noted that there is no recourse to appeal an Objections Board decision, which will leave them with no options if the board dismisses their arguments. The board is composed of the secretary of state, the attorney general and the lieutenant governor, or their representatives.
After the hearing ended, Van Meteren said the decision throws him and Miller “at the mercy of the state Objections Board.”
“It’s an inherently political body controlled by the two major parties who don’t like competition from minor parties. They’ve made that very clear,” Van Meteren said. “Going clear back to 2023, Scott Schwab attempted to throttle or suffocate No Labels when they first submitted petitions. He tried to deny that he needed to review those petitions and certify the party or recognize the party. Finally, folks filed suit, and he had to relent on that, and did recognize the party. He has demonstrated hostility toward No Labels Kansas and toward Mr. Miller and myself personally throughout this process.”
A spokesperson for Schwab’s office said Schwab “applies the law uniformly without exception.”
“Representatives from the legitimate No Labels Kansas political party requested the termination of their recognized party status, which occurred pursuant to the state law,” the spokesperson said in response to emailed questions.
Van Meteren said they respect the judge’s decision, but that it basically said “this is a political issue, and it needs to be thrown back to a political party or political body, and good luck.”
“So we will see what our fate is tomorrow,” he said.