Mary Alice Lair is an American politician from

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

. In 1982 she served as the first chairwoman of the

Kansas Republican Party The Kansas Republican Party is the state affiliate political party in Kansas of the United States Republican Party. The Kansas Republican Party was organized in May 1859. At the state level, the party is largely split between its moderate and co ...

, and was a long time Republican national committeewoman, representing southeastern Kansas.

Biography

Lair served as the vice-president of the

(KSGOP) from starting in 1980. Lair was named the first chairwoman of the KSGOP for three months, from June to August 1982. After this, she again served as vice-president until 1988, when she start to serve as a Republican National Committeewoman until 2000. During this period she was a staunch supporter of both

George H. W. Bush George Herbert Walker BushBefore the outcome of the 2000 United States presidential election, he was usually referred to simply as "George Bush" but became more commonly known as "George H. W. Bush", "Bush Senior," "Bush 41," and even "Bush th ...

and

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

. Lair voted in the 1993

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is the primary committee of the Republican Party of the United States. Its members are chosen by the state delegations at the national convention every four years. It is responsible for developing and pr ...

voicing her support of traditional, "broad", Republicans, instead of caving to pressure from the grassroots religious right, stating that being overtly partisan on the issue of religion would hurt elect-ability. Lair also supported

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011 and as the List of governors of Kansas, 46th governor of K ...

, and helped work on his 2014 re-election bid, stating that although his

tax policies A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax compl ...

were unpopular at the moment, that they were going to be good for Kansas in the long run. Lair was one of the earliest, and most vocal supporters of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

during the

2016 Republican Party presidential primaries Presidential primaries and caucuses of the Republican Party took place within all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories between February 1 and June 7, 2016. These elections selected the 2,472 delegates that we ...

, being one of the few Kansas Republican leaders that backed him over the more traditionally Republican

Ted Cruz Rafael Edward Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz was the solicitor general of Texas from 2003 ...

. Lair stated after the 2016 Kansas Republican presidential caucuses that Trump is "a force to be reckoned with who can absolutely beat out Clinton, which needs to be the Republicans’ focus" and that “Trump stands for everything I do". In 2021, Lair endorsed

Derek Schmidt Derek Larkin Schmidt (born January 23, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district since 2025. He previously served as the Kansas Attorney General from 2011 to 2023. A Repu ...

in the

2022 Kansas gubernatorial election The 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Kansas, with Partisan primary, primary elections taking place on August 2, 2022. Governor Laura Kelly won re-election to a second term, defeating ...

, saying that the Democratic party were "

far-left Far-left politics, also known as extreme left politics or left-wing extremism, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single, coherent definition; some ...

" and didn't represent the people of Kansas. Lair is also well known in Republican circles for her attendance of every Republican gubernatorial

Inaugural ball United States presidential inaugural balls are large social gatherings, both white tie and black tie, held to celebrate the commencement of a new term of the president of the United States. Planned and sanctioned by the Presidential Inaugura ...

, often in flashy, patriotic themed, outfits. In the mid-1970s, Lair was one of the founding members of the Kansas Fairgrounds Foundation, which organize the

Kansas State Fair Kansas State Fair is a state fair held annually in Hutchinson, Kansas, United States. It starts the Friday following Labor Day in September, and lasts for 10 days. This fair is the largest single event in the state and attracts approximately 35 ...

. In 2023 she was recognized for over 50 years in service to the foundation, and her ability to use political connections to lobby for funding for the fair in its early years. The foundation stated that without Lair, it is unlikely that the Kansas State Fair would exist in its present form.

Personal life

The Lair family, including Mary Alice, were named the

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public inst ...

family of the year for 2022, as 21 living members of the family had graduated from the university. The Lair family attended 6 of the 9 colleges, and are one of the original season ticket holders for the Wildcats.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lair, Mary Alice Kansas Republicans Kansas State University alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people