In a bold move, most of the Kansas delegates at the Democratic National Convention are donning Kansas City Chiefs gear, defying the convention's blue color scheme and signaling the state's intent to woo the team from neighboring Missouri.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican presidential candidate, was an unexpected guest at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. However, the convention floor was filled with a sea of Kansas City Chiefs colors, worn by most of the Kansas delegates. This bold move defies the DNC's primary color of blue and the fact that the Chiefs are based in Kansas City, Missouri.
The decision to wear Chiefs gear was not haphazard; it was a strategic move by Kansas Democratic chair Jeanna Repass amid the state's efforts to court the football franchise from Missouri. Kansas Democrat Reed Krewson explained to KMBC that the party's chair and the delegation decided to wear the jerseys to show their support for the team.
Kansas Democrats Wear Chiefs Gear to DNC, Aiming to Lure Team from Missouri
"Kansas City Chiefs are the Kansas City metro area," Krewson said. "A win for them is a win for us. Our state legislature just passed a package to attract the Kansas City Chiefs to Kansas."
The Kansas state legislature approved legislation in June that would expand a state incentive program with the clear aim of luring the Chiefs, and potentially the MLB's Kansas City Royals, too. The bill would ensure that the Chiefs receive hundreds of millions of dollars in sales tax revenue to build a new stadium based in Kansas.
Kansas Democrats Wear Chiefs Gear to DNC, Aiming to Lure Team from Missouri
Kansas state lawmakers were critical of Missouri as a host state for the Chiefs before passing the law. Voters in Jackson County, Missouri, where the Chiefs' current venue Arrowhead Stadium is located, rejected a sales tax extension in April that would have helped finance a new stadium in downtown Kansas City.
"We’re in jeopardy of Kansas City losing those franchises," Kansas Sen. Jeff Pittman, a Leavenworth Democrat, said during June's debate on the bill. "Missouri has dropped the ball. We now have an opportunity to make an offer."
Kansas Democrats Wear Chiefs Gear to DNC, Aiming to Lure Team from Missouri
During the convention, Repass expressed confidence that the delegation's strategy was unsettling Missouri delegates in Chicago.
"I think we’re making Missouri sweat a bit," Repass said, via The Kansas City Star. "We’ve been getting some dirty looks from across the room."
Kansas Democrats Wear Chiefs Gear to DNC, Aiming to Lure Team from Missouri
Missouri's delegates, dressed in formal wear, were not amused by the Kansas delegation's conduct. Missouri representative Emanuel Cleaver criticized his party members, saying, "Sometimes when we do things it’s bad form."
Missouri lawmakers previously criticized the Kansas state legislature's law to incentivize a Chiefs relocation and warned against restarting an "incentive border war" between the two states.
"Today’s vote regrettably restarts the Missouri-Kansas incentive border war, creating leverage for the teams, but injecting even greater uncertainty into the regional stadium conversation," Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said in a statement on June 20.
The Chiefs' current stadium lease expires in 2031, but the team reportedly intends to pursue a new stadium much sooner. The team's popularity and the success of quarterback Patrick Mahomes have made it one of the league's most valuable franchises.
Team president Mark Donovan said in March that leaving Kansas City "is an option." Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson has even proposed that the team return to Dallas, where it began as the Dallas Texans in 1960 before relocating to Kansas City in 1962.
