Carla Stovall


Carla J. Stovall, also known as Carla Stovall Steckline, is a Republican politician from Marion, Kansas who served as Attorney General of the State of Kansas from 1995 to 2003.

Education

Stovall earned her undergraduate degree from Pittsburg State University and her Juris Doctor and MBA degrees from the University of Kansas.

Political career

A Republican from Marion, Kansas, she served as Attorney General of the State of Kansas from 1995 to 2003. During her tenure, she served as President of the National Association of Attorneys General. Stovall was former Crawford County Attorney and member of Kansas Parole Board.

2002 Gubernatorial race

During the 2002 election, Stovall briefly campaigned for the Republican nomination for the office of Governor of Kansas. Kent Glasscock, a former Speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives, served as her running mate.
Initially, Stovall was one of the presumed "front-runner" candidates, and her anticipated run against the probable Democratic nominee, Kansas Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Sebelius, drew national attention as becoming possibly a rare "woman-vs.-woman" gubernatorial race. Though the front-runner among moderate candidates — and confident that she would win if she stayed in the race — Stovall dropped out in April, 2020, citing a lack of enthusiasm for campaigning, and for the job of governor, and announced plans to marry Kansas media mogul Larry Steckline, whom she married in August.
Stovall's abrupt withdrawal threw the moderate wing of the Kansas Republican Party into chaos, as they scrambled to replace her. Kent Glasscock, her running mate, was the heir-apparent, and claimed entitlement to Stovall's campaign funds, but conservative opponent Tim Shallenburger, the incumbent State Treasurer, argued that the funds, per his interpretation of state law, had to be returned to the state Republican party, or to the donors, a charity, or the state government's general revenue fund. Additional Republican candidates began to emerge, also, further complicating the race. Glasscock, ultimately, became a running mate for gubernatorial candidate Bob Knight.
Stovall's withdrawal was credited with giving advantage to the Democratic nominee, Katheleen Sebelius.