The United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom is a title that the majority of Americans didn’t know existed. However, it has unexpectedly become important to Kansans everywhere.

On January 31st, former Governor Sam Brownback (R) officially resigned. In his place the former Lt. Governor, Jeff Colyer (R), was sworn into office. He enters as the 47th Governor of Kansas and what with many describe as a “pit” to crawl Kansas out of.

Brownback resigned not because of any scandal, but because he was appointed to the aforementioned title. In it, he will be in charge of the Office of International Religious Freedom in the U.S. Department of State.

He was nominated for this position by Donald Trump on July 26th, 2017. However, he never received a confirmation hearing. When this occurs, senate rules allows the person to be nominated once again in order to have a vote.

On January 8th, Brownback re-received the nomination and had the hearing set for January 24th. The vote ended up becoming a stalemate, 49-49. Vice President Mike Pence was allowed to step in and break the tie, which he did, confirming Brownback.

With Brownback gone, Kansas will be having a gubernatorial election on November 6th, 2018 to elect a new governor. Typically, the incumbent doesn’t have to face competition within their own party. However, this time it will be crowded.

Colyer was never voted in, so other Republicans are stepping up to challenge his position. Kris Kobach is one notable person vying for the role. There is also all of the other people, such as the Democrats, Independents, and any other person running.

There is one thing for sure: Brownback is gone and Kansas needs a new governor.