Legislative Staffer Faces Discipline Over Tweets

The top Democrat in the Kansas House says he’ll discipline a staffer who’s been posting disparaging tweets about Republican legislators.

House Minority Leader Paul Davis said Thursday that he’ll take an unspecified “course of administrative action” against Tyler Longpine, his director of special projects.

Longpine confirmed in a statement that he’d been posting messages under the Twitter social media tag John Brown’s Ghost. Longpine said that Davis didn’t know who was responsible for the tweets until Thursday.

Longpine apologized and said he “should not have posted this content online.” Davis called the tweets “unacceptable.”

A tweet Wednesday compared unnamed state senators to “My crazy wing-nut uncle.” Other lawmakers have been disparaged by name.

Longpine inadvertently posted a disparaging tweet Tuesday under both his personal tag and John Brown’s Ghost.