How can we bring jobs to rural Kansas? How can we make college more affordable? How can we improve access to healthcare? How can we improve U.S. 69?
Five of the eight Democratic candidates for governor met in Iola Tuesday night to answer these and other questions in advance of the Aug. 7 primary. The forum, which presented the group with six rounds of questions, was hosted by the Allen County Democratic Party.
Former Wichita mayor Carl Brewer, Salina salesman Robert Klingenberg, and former FBI agent Michael Tab-man did not attend the forum, which drew an audience of about 80 spectators from all parts of southeast Kansas.
THE CANDIDATES were invited to introduce themselves at the outset.
Jack Bergeson spoke first. Bergeson is a 17-year-old high school junior from Wichita whose campaign cites meaningful drug reform, starting with the legalization of marijuana, as its landmark issue. We are putting people in prison for using medicine and altering their consciousnesses, said Bergeson, who pointed to states like California and Washington that have used the proceeds from marijuana sales to fund public education. Given where Kansas is in terms of education, said Bergeson, our education needs every bit of help it can get.
Next to speak was state Sen. Laura Kelly. Kelly, too, dwelt in her opening statement on the evergreen subject of education. The flinty, soft-spoken lawmaker, who recently received the endorsement of former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, recalled relocating to Kansas from Colorado with her husband decades prior. We came here, said Kelly, because of the great schools and the great sense of community. Her primary goal as governor, she said, is to ensure that younger Kansans are able to receive the sort of world class education that benefited her daughters.
Thirty-eight-year-old former ag secretary, Josh Svaty, an able speaker with a polished confidence and dry wit, is a fifth-generation Kansan from Ellsworth. In addition to his role in the Parkinson administration, Svaty served for seven years as a Kansas lawmaker; he was a senior adviser at the Environmental Protection Agency; and was, for four years, the vice president of The Land Institute near Salina. These days, the father of four, who has earned the endorsement of former Gov. John Carlin, manages a small farm in Ellsworth County. The last eight years have been rough, Svaty told the room. I believe this is a generational election. We realize…that the state is so broken, that the next generation needs to stand up and do something about it. I couldnt sit on the sidelines in this election cycle.
Next was Arden Andersen, from Olathe. Andersen, a political newbie, is banking on his experiential knowledge in the fields of healthcare (hes a doctor and has a masters in public health), education (he was a former high school teacher), agriculture (his subject was vocational ag and biotechnology), and the military (he was a colonel in the Air Force). Politicians will jawbone at each other, said Andersen, but, right now, we lack competent people who will actually solve problems.
Finally, House Minority Leader Jim Ward of Wichita reminded the audience of what hangs in the balance in 2018. We are at a crossroads, people, said the blunt-talking Ward, who identified Kansas Secretary of State and current Republican gubernatorial frontrunner Kris Kobach as the embodiment of what has to be opposed in the upcoming election. Kobach said the biggest mistake [Gov.] Sam Brownback ever made was that he didnt go far enough. … We have to decide who can carry our flag to beat Kris Kobach.
THE NIGHT WAS, on the whole, a conclave of polite agreement, though the very first question concerning gun control did manage to dislodge a few sharp words from the panel.
After making the customary hat-tip to hunters and highlighting his previous support for moderate concealed-carry legislation, Rep. Ward pointed accusingly toward his colleague, Sen. Kelly. Ms. Kelly has been an NRA supporter every year shes been in the Legislature, said Ward. She put the NRA endorsement in her website just in 2016. She voted to remove the rules that require background checks and mental health [checks], chided Ward. Now, that doesnt maker her a bad person, but I dont believe in election-year conversions.
What he fails to mention, responded Kelly, is that the NRA gave him an A-rating in 2004, 2006, and 2008. So he has also changed his position on this, and I think [the capacity for change] is what you want in a public official.
All of the candidates supported some kind of ban on high-capacity magazines or lethal accessories like bump stocks and they all advocated adding teeth to policies regulating background checks. You can absolutely defend the Second Amendment without removing normal protections, said Svaty.
The candidates agreed, too, that the state needs to do a better job investing in mental health care. As an Air Force doctor, Arden Andersen is responsible for deciding, based on the results of mental health evaluations, whether trained security forces are allowed to carry guns. [The civilian world] needs a standard that is at least equivalent to what the military uses in our society, said Andersen. People with mental health issues should not be carrying a gun. Just like a drunk should not be driving a car.
CANDIDATES were then asked what strategies they would adopt to improve the rural economy, lift up the minimum-wage workforce, and spur economic development generally.
