Dem accuses GOP of trying to boot him from state legislature for being 'scary Black man'

TOPEKA — Rep. Ford Carr says Republicans intend to slander his reputation and expel him from the Legislature for being a “scary Black man.”

Speaking truth to power, he told Kansas Reflector, “has a way of making many uncomfortable,” including some of his fellow Democrats.

Officially, the House Select Investigating Committee is considering a complaint made by Rep. Leah Howell, a Derby Republican, that alleges Carr, a Wichita Democrat, broke a House rule about using disorderly words while debating legislation.

But Carr says he is actually being punished for pointing out racism in the Statehouse and filing a complaint against a Republican who verbally accosted him at his desk during a floor debate.

“I would have to say that when you speak out against racism and the Republican Party, removing you and silencing your voice as a Black man is always the intent,” Carr said in an email.

The committee, with three Republicans and three Democrats, on Tuesday heard evidence in Carr’s case and on Thursday plans to listen to both Carr and Howell before deciding whether to recommend the House reprimand, censure or expel Carr. Any of those options would require support from two-thirds of House members.

The evidentiary hearing was held in a room where the maximum capacity is 45, and a crowd of more than 60 spilled out into the hallway. Most were there to show support for Carr.

“This is an injustice,” said Marcus Clark, pastor at Love Fellowship Church in East Topeka, in an interview before the hearing. “The reason for our presence and our support is because we believe firmly injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

He was invoking the famous words of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in talking about the complaint against Carr.

“My hope and prayer is that the support shown here by the community today will be influential, that the support he’s receiving from the wider community will be a clear indicator that it’s not appreciated how he’s being mistreated,” Clark said.

Later, the committee chairman would throw the pastor out of the room for clapping.

Marcus Clark, pastor at Love Fellowship Church in East Topeka, says supporters of Rep. Ford Carr were drawn to the March 25, 2025, hearing because they view it as “an injustice.” He was ejected from the hearing for clapping. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

The 24-point list of evidence in the complaint against Carr ranges from comments he made during House debates over the past two years to news articles to video that shows him shouting at a Wichita councilman in January in a Topeka bar.

Then, in February, a heated confrontation between Carr and Rep. Nick Hoheisel, a Wichita Republican, brought debate to a standstill. Carr had thanked another Republican for not being too racist to answer his questions. Hoheisel subsequently marched across the chamber, thumped a finger on Carr’s desk and told him: “That’s bulls***.”

Carr filed a complaint against Hoheisel, but the investigating committee deadlocked in a party-line tie on whether to dismiss or proceed.

Howell’s complaint alleges Carr violated House decorum during the February exchange. On Tuesday, Carr objected to the presentation of evidence that has nothing to do with the alleged rule violation. He also pointed out that, in order to consider such a violation, someone needed to challenge his remarks during the debate, which didn’t happen.

Carr said the procedure was “100% out of order.”

“The question before us is do we make up the rules as we go, or do we abide by them?” Carr said.

He said the only disruption he may have made was “after the other member came across the floor, after the other member walked up to me, after the other member put his finger in my face, after the other member uttered profanities in my face —”

Rep. Bob Lewis, a Garden Center Republican who chairs the committee, cut Carr off.

“We’ll take your objection under advisement,” Lewis said.

As Carr made his way back to his front-row seat, he told the crowd: “You see how they’re making up rules.”

“Excuse me?” Lewis said. “Mr. Carr, there will be none of that. You understand?”

“I do understand, sir. And thank you very much for that point,” Carr said.

Rep. Bob Lewis, R-Garden City, and Rep. Susan Humphries, R-Wichita, watch a video clip during a March 25, 2025, evidentiary hearing for a complaint against Rep. Ford Carr. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

The committee reviewed evidence in chronological order, which included the recitation by Rep. Susan Humphries, a Wichita Republican who sits on the committee, of an article Carr wrote in 2023 for Community Voice in Wichita. It was titled: “Yes I Called My Fellow Black Kansas Lawmaker ‘A House Negro’ and I Regret Nothing.”

When Clark, the Topeka pastor, clapped at the conclusion of the article, Lewis demanded he be removed from the room. There were no law enforcement present, but Clark voluntarily got up from his back row seat and resumed clapping as he left.

Rep. Dan Osman, an Overland Park Democrat who sits on the committee, asked Lewis if he could inform the committee while reviewing evidence which specific rule violations were under consideration.

“This is getting ahead of ourselves, but the precedent in this body going back to 1951 provides that you can look beyond any specific rule in addressing misconduct,” Lewis said.

Carr tried to make another objection about the reading of his quotes from news articles. Lewis told him he should email any objections after the hearing and that Carr would be allowed to testify about them on Thursday.

“I do understand what you’re saying and where this is going,” Carr said.

Rep. Ford Carr tells committee members during a March 25, 2025, hearing that the proceedings against him are “100% out of order.” (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

The presentation of evidence included two clips taken with smartphones that show a heated shouting match between Carr and Wichita Councilman Brandon Johnson in January at the Celtic Fox, a bar across the street from the Statehouse. Lewis described the evidence as the work of “videographers,” although he couldn’t or wouldn’t say who took the videos.

Rep. Stephanie Clayton, an Overland Park Democrat who observed the hearing while standing against a side wall, muttered: “Videographers? Jesus Christ.”

At another point, when reviewing comments Carr made in 2023, she could be heard saying: “This isn’t even from this session.” Humphries shot her a glare.

When Clayton left the committee room, she paused to tell this reporter: “If we’re bringing up the past, I may have several complaints I need to issue.”

She didn’t elaborate.

Howell, whose complaint said Carr had created an unsafe workplace, sat stone-faced chewing gum in back of committee room as the video from the Celtic Fox showed her gently rubbing Carr’s shoulders in an attempt to calm him down.