TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) _ Kansas House Speaker Mike O'Neal denies he cut a deal with Senate leaders to smooth the way for passage of a bill redrawing the Senate's 40 districts.
O'Neal, a Hutchinson Republican, said comments he made were misrepresented Tuesday during the Senate's debate on redistricting.
Senators began with a map that excluded at least three conservative candidates from the districts of the moderate GOP senators they plan to challenge in the Republican primary.
But during their debate, senators amended the map so that two of those challengers would be in the districts they preferred.
Sen. Tim Owens, an Overland Park Republican, said Senate GOP leaders agreed to the changes when O'Neal promised not to block the bill in the House.
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