Republican leaders are responding to an investigative report that exposed racist messages shared by Young Republican organizations in Kansas and around the country — while Gov. Laura Kelly says the Kansas GOP is setting a poor example. Plus: Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway is laying out her agenda, particularly on crime and abortion.

Politico exposed racist and homophobic messages sent by leaders of the Kansas Young Republicans, which included slurs against gay people and Black people, as well as references to Nazi and white supremacist ideology. The Kansas GOP has distanced itself, but Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly said the party modeled similar behavior in its own social media posts. Zane Irwin of the Kansas News Service spoke with NPR's Ailsa Chang on All Things Considered about the fallout.

It’s been a little over a month since Gov. Mike Kehoe appointed Catherine Hanaway to be Missouri’s attorney general. The Republican officeholder is laying out her priorities around fighting crime and defending the state’s abortion laws. St. Louis Public Radio’s Jason Rosenbaum talked with Hanaway about her vision for the statewide office.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Byron Love and KCUR Studios, and edited by Emily Younker and Gabe Rosenberg.

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