Jackson County Executive Mike SandersJackson County Executive Mike SandersHere’s a name that is destined to shake up the next race for Kansas City mayor — whenever that happens.

Mike Sanders.

The Jackson County executive’s name popped up like a Jack-in-the-box last weekend amid the frenzy over whether recall petitioners might get enough signatures to force a new mayoral election.

Suddenly, there was Sanders’ spokesman Calvin Williford on the phone with The Kansas City Star’s Mike Mansur, telling him that Sanders might run if an election is scheduled for November.

“We’re not ruling anything in or out,” Williford said.

 Sanders’ campaign platform wouldn’t be hard to figure out: The man who ended all the infighting at the county is equipped to swoop into City Hall and restore civility.

 And if Sanders, a Democrat who also has served as Jackson County prosecutor, can clean up City Hall, the city-county two-fer potentially offers an enormously appealing platform for an eventual state-wide run.

But first things first. With Sanders, an immediate question springs to mind: What about residency?

Last time anybody checked, the 42-year-old county executive was an Independence resident and proud of it.

 The 2006 Kansas City charter stiffened residency standards and requires that the mayor have resided for at least five years in the city “including the two years immediately prior to Election Day, in the territory embraced within the City limits.”

 Sanders has lived in Kansas City for more than five years of his life. But could he satisfy the stipulation that he had to reside in Kansas City for the two years prior to Election Day?

Williford: “The answer to that is we do not believe residency will be a problem.”

Asked what he meant by that, Williford declined to elaborate.

But note that he did not say that residency won’t be an issue, because it would become exactly that in any mayoral race.

Question is, could Sanders eventually move past that issue in a heated mayoral campaign, assuming he could satisfy a certain legal challenge? Given his name identification, experience and political wherewithal, the answer is probably yes.

Remember, the key in any recall election would be garnering enough votes in a multi-candidate field to make it to the two-candidate runoff.

Despite his foibles, Funkhouser would have a reasonable shot at making the runoff. And so would Sanders, although stiff competition would come from lawyers Mike Burke and Sly James, and maybe others.

A Sanders-Funkhouser finale? The smart money would go on Sanders.

That’s why this race is such a great temptation to the county executive.

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 Back in 2002, a relatively unknown Democrat named Chris Biggs came within 0.523 of a percentage point of knocking off Republican Phill Kline in the Kansas attorney general’s race.

An upset that would have occurred in a rock-ribbed Republican state.

The next year, Biggs became the state securities commissioner, and he’s been widely mentioned as a potential state-wide candidate since.

Now Biggs is hinting the time has come to try again. He said Friday that he’s leaning toward a race for secretary of state. The four-term incumbent, Ron Thornburgh, is running for governor.

 “I came close last time,” Biggs said. “Public service has been my whole life. It seems like a good fit for me.”

 If Biggs runs, he may wind up facing conservative Republican Kris Kobach, a UMKC law professor and former state GOP chairman, who said last month that he wants the office.

A Kobach candidacy, Biggs said, “gets the hair standing up on the back of my neck.”

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 The first time I encountered Rich Nadler was on the KCPT’s “Ruckus” program many years ago.

 I was a substitute panelist — and a little nervous. Nadler, who died last weekend, was a great conservative voice and eager to take on the new kid. I don’t remember exactly what my first words on the show that day were, but Nadler responded by promptly calling me an idiot.

 Host Mike Shanin mercifully bailed me out, but the story proves a point: Rich Nadler was always a presence and a force to reckoned with. That’s precisely what made him such a great advocate for his cause.

To reach Steve Kraske, call 816-234-4312 or send e-mail to skraske@kcstar.com.