Tracey Mann is an American businessman and politician, who served as the 50th Lieutenant Governor of Kansas from 2018 to 2019. He was appointed by Governor Jeff Colyer in February 2018, after Colyer ascended from the lieutenant governorship upon Governor Brownback's resignation.
Political career
Mann ran for Kansas's 1st congressional district in the 2010 elections to the United States House of Representatives, finishing third to Tim Huelskamp in the Republican primary. During Mann's 2010 First District congressional campaign, Mann repeatedly insisted President Barack Obama needed to produce his birth certificate to prove that he was really an American citizen. The Hutchinson News withdrew its endorsement of Mann, stating, "he questions the citizenship of President Barack Obama despite evidence that is irrefutable to most objective, rational people - including a birth certificate released by the Hawaii secretary of state and birth announcements printed in Honolulu's two major newspapers. Mann said on a Salina radio program on June 21, 2010, that he thought Obama, "...needs to come forth with his papers and show everyone that he is an American citizen." He made similar comments, that day at a forum at Elkhart, Kansas. He said he questions the citizenship of President Barack Obama despite evidence that is irrefutable to most objective, rational people - including a birth certificate released by the Hawaii secretary of state and birth announcements printed in Honolulu's two major newspapers. Though Mann expressed support for birtherism, he says he has since renounced those beliefs. Two weeks after Jeff Colyer ascended to the office of Governor of Kansas, Mann was appointed to serve as Colyer's Lieutenant Governor. He was sworn in on February 14, 2018. After Colyer picked Mann to be his Lieutenant Governor, Kansas Democratic party director Ethan Corson said, "Tonight Gov. Jeff Colyer had an opportunity to make a clean break with the failed Brownback agenda he has supported and abetted for seven years. Colyer’s choice of Tracey Mann, a fellow Brownback donor and enabler, reflects his stubborn unwillingness to move beyond Brownback’s failed agenda." Colyer lost the 2018 Republican primary to Kris Kobach and he and Mann left office the next year. In 2018, after allegations that appointed incumbent and child abuser, Republican representative Michael Capps, did not live as required in the state House electoral district in which he was running, a complaint was submitted by the Democratic party to the board. Capps had a different mailing address, one located outside the district. Capps had given his residence address as 3103 North Governeour, Wichita with a mailing address of 6505 East Central Avenue, #110. The board, composed ofKansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Kansas Attorney GeneralDerek Schmidt and Mann, found the complaint to be invalid and allowed Capps to stay on the ballot and he won the election. Capps received 54% of the vote to 46% for Democrat Monica Marks. When a Wichita Eagle reporter went to the home in the wake of the October 2019 accusations about a fabricated attack video made by Capps against Wichita mayoral runoff candidate Brandon Whipple, an unidentified young man living there said he was "house sitting" and hadn't seen Capps, "in a while." Mann is running again for the Kansas 1st Congressional district seat in the 2020 elections with incumbent Roger Marshall retiring to run for the U.S. Senate.
