Gene Suellentrop (born January 1, 1952) is an American politician who was a Republican member of the Kansas State Senate, representing the 27th district from January 11, 2017 to January 2nd, 2023. He served as the Senate's Majority Leader beginning in January 2021.
After an intoxicated high-speed freeway police chase in the wrong direction on March 16, 2021, he was removed as Senate Majority Leader by a caucus vote in April 2021, but not from the Senate itself. Before being elected to the state senate, he had served two terms in the Kansas house, then was elected to the senate in 2016.
Career
Suellentrop created the Gambino's pizza parlor franchise, later retitled, The Sauce Brands. By 2000, he had licensed 63 regional franchises in five states, including 40 in Kansas. When Wichita area franchisees discovered the corporation, G.P.A, Inc., had been surreptitiously receiving kickbacks from required suppliers, they sued it for damages involving alleged breach of contract and antitrust violations in a class-action lawsuit. In November 2011 he also complained, in his presidency of the Kansas chapter of the National Restaurant and Hospitality Association, that the Obama Administration dictated an "unprecedented intrusion" by ordering workplaces to display an 11" by 17" poster that informed employees of their right to unionize.
Tenure
Suellentrop was a member of the Kansas House of Representatives from 2009 to 2013. He was elected to the state senate in 2016, taking office in 2017. Suellentrop represents northwestern Wichita and rural areas to the west and north of his district. While the senate's Majority Leader, Suellentrop opposed Medicaid expansion and rejected the efficacy of wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
DUI Arrest
On March 16, 2021, Suellentrop was arrested by Capitol Police for driving on the wrong side of Interstate 70, driving under the influence (DUI) and felony fleeing from a law enforcement officer. He was captured after a ten-minute high-speed chase in which he had evaded one nail strip by driving around it but was stopped by another which punctured his tires. The Shawnee County District Attorney subsequently had refiled escalated charges against Suellentrop, which included felony eluding law enforcement and misdemeanor driving under the influence. Suellentrop refused to take a breath test. His blood alcohol content was 0.17%, more than twice the legal limit despite having been taken three hours after his arrest. He only provided it due to being compelled by a search warrant ordered by a judge. Court filings and the arresting trooper's testimony alleged that Suellentrop narrowly avoided at least two near-head on collisions with oncoming motorists, making physical threats as his blood was tested for alcohol level, three hours after his life-threatening flight had been stopped. The officer said the 69-year-old senator taunted him, bragging that he could "take" the trooper in a physical fight.