Today, the Kansas City Star detailed Amanda Adkins’ close ties to disgraced former governor Sam Brownback—and how that serves as a “weight around the ankles” of her campaign in a district where just 25% of voters view Brownback favorably.

The Star reported that Adkins’ long history with Brownback—including working for him in the U.S. Senate, managing his campaign, championing his disastrous governorship as Chair of the Kansas Republican Party, and being appointed to his Children’s Cabinet—could spell trouble in a state where “Brownback remains extremely unpopular.”

Adkins’ stood by Brownback while his tax experiment “tanked” Kansas’ economy, calling him an “incredible governor.” The Star reports how the Adkins-Brownback agenda had “a more personal impact than national policies” and the former Governor “isn’t exactly disappearing from public view” on issues like abortion, complicating Adkins’ attempts to mask her extreme anti-choice record.

Read more from the Kansas City Star here or below: 

“Since Brownback launched his tax experiment in 2012 and the experiment went south — draining funding needed for schools, infrastructure and local services — his name has served as a weight around the ankles of Republicans… 

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Still, his reputation lingers. Democratic polling in June found that Brownback remains extremely unpopular, with only 25% of voters in the 3rd Congressional District viewing him favorably. His unfavorable numbers were much lower than former President Donald Trump, who 43% of voters saw favorably.

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‘For almost two decades, Amanda Adkins shaped, supported, and celebrated Sam Brownback’s disastrous policies, working at his side even when it meant Kansas kids suffered,’ said Ellie Turner, Davids’ spokeswoman. ‘A record like that is not something you can brush off, especially when Kansans are still recovering from the harm Brownback and his allies did to our state.’

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Adkins served as a campaign manager for Brownback’s 2004 U.S. Senate campaign and was the chairwoman of the Kansas Republican Party when Brownback was elected governor. He appointed her to the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund. 

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Under the tax cuts implemented from Brownback, the state faced massive funding shortfalls, making it difficult to fund the state programs voters feel in their everyday lives. Eventually, the Republican-controlled legislature stepped in to eliminate Brownback’s tax cuts, using a supermajority to override his veto. Brownback has insisted that his program just needed more time to work. Because Brownback’s policies affected the state budget, they may have had a more personal impact than national policies, which often take years to be felt by the average voter. 

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But Brownback isn’t exactly disappearing from public view. In a recent speech, Brownback compared voters rejecting an amendment to the Kansas constitution that would have eliminated the right to abortion to the first battle of the Civil War, reigniting an issue that Republicans like Schmidt and Adkins have preferred to leave untouched.”