In 2018, we said Laura Kelly was the clear choice for Kansas governor, pointing out her “practical yet determined plan” to repair the fiscal damage of her predecessors.

She executed that plan. Today, we strongly endorse Kelly, a Democrat and the incumbent governor, for the second term she now seeks.

Kansans should not forget the disaster Kelly inherited when she took office in 2019. The state was still reeling from the tax cut “experiment” of former Gov. Sam Brownback, which led to cratering revenues and underfunded schools.

Remember endless special sessions? Last-minute budget transfers? Plummeting state credit ratings? “It was pretty dire,” Kelly said in September, during an hourlong grilling with The Star’s editorial board. “We were suffering under a huge debt. We weren’t able to pay our bills without robbing every bank account we had.”

As governor, Kelly ended the chaos by rightsizing the budget, repaying debt and shoring up the state’s credit.

She had help, of course. The federal government has provided billions for COVID-19 relief. The state’s economy has also rebounded, pouring hundreds of millions of additional dollars into state coffers.

She resisted repeated attempts to squander some of that money on tax cuts for businesses and the wealthy. She wasn’t always successful, but her efforts helped limit the damage.