Kansas attorney general admits affair

The governor said she didn't want to "prejudge the situation," but that it was a shock and disappointment to her to learn of the allegations.

"I think it's a huge setback for Kansans. This I don't see as a partisan issue," said Sebelius. "I think when people put their faith in a public official and feel that faith to be violated, it's a huge disappointment and a shock for a lot of people."

Before the affair became public, even some Republicans assumed Morrison wouldn't face a serious challenge if he sought re-election in 2010. He won the attorney general's race last year with 59 percent of the vote.

During the campaign, Morrison faced allegations that he had drunkenly propositioned another female employee in a bar in 1990. But two federal lawsuits arising from those claims were dismissed, and when Kline raised the claims as an issue during the campaign's final weeks, the tactic backfired.

As Kline was failing to gain ground, Morrison and Carter were having their affair, according to her account. She said they had sexual encounters in the Johnson County Courthouse and in hotels in several Kansas cities and three other states.

'Profound lack of judgment'
Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, the state's largest anti-abortion group and a frequent Morrison critic, said the attorney general should resign because his actions show such a "profound lack of judgment and honesty."

Her group has been following Morrison's activities closely because abortion was an important issue in the attorney general's race. The candidates argued about Kline's pursuit of records from abortion clinics as part of a criminal investigation.

Though he has pursued his own case, Morrison, an abortion rights supporter, criticized a case Kline filed against a Wichita abortion provider. As district attorney, Kline has filed criminal charges against a Planned Parenthood clinic in Overland Park.

Those disputes spilled into Morrison's affair with Carter, according to her statement. Carter said Morrison also was upset that she continued to work for Kline until she left the district attorney's office in late November.

Associated Press writer Heather Hollingsworth in Kansas City, Mo., contributed to this report.

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