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TEMPE, Ariz. -- Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, daughter of a
former Ohio governor, was decked out in Kansas State purple on the
eve of the Wildcats' Fiesta Bowl game against Ohio State. "My husband, Gary, a Kansas State graduate, and I just
celebrated our 29th anniversary," Sebelius told a crowd of about
14,000 at a pep rally Thursday afternoon at Arizona State
University, "and I just celebrated my 29th anniversary as a Kansan
by choice." Sebelius, a Democrat who was elected governor last November
after serving four terms in the Kansas House and two terms as
insurance commissioner, had said jokingly that being an Ohio native
was "an accident of birth." She is the daughter of John Gilligan, who was Ohio's governor
from 1971-75. Sebelius, who has a bachelor's degree from Trinity College in
Washington and a master's degree from the University of Kansas,
also got in a dig at Ohio State's mascot. "When I was in school in Ohio, we learned that a buckeye was a
small, hairless nut of no commercial value," she said. Sebelius also made note of Kansas State's 35-7 win over then-No.
1 Oklahoma in the Big 12 Conference championship game in Kansas
City, Mo. -- and of her wager on that game with Oklahoma Gov. Brad
Henry. "We arrived at the game together, and his car was parked next
to mine," she said. "I gave him my phone number, and we arranged
to meet at halftime -- and I haven't seen him since." After the laughter died down, Sebelius continued: "But I did leave him a note on his windshield saying, 'I can't
wait to see you when you come to Kansas to read to the children."
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