Alana Cloutier of Humboldt filed Monday to represent the 9th District in the Kansas House of Representatives.
As the only Democrat in the race, she will face the winner of the Aug. 4 Republican primary race where incumbent Rep. Kent Thomson, rural LaHarpe, faces Armando J. Hernandez, of Chanute.
This is Cloutier’s first run for public office, though she has been involved in politics practically all of her life.
“I was 6 years old when my dad took me with him to vote in the 1984 presidential election,” she said. “He told the poll workers that I was going to vote for Nancy Reagan. I was so mad.”
The race was against Republican Ronald Reagan and Democrat Walter Modale. Living in California at the time, Cloutier figures her dad went for Mondale, though she’s not certain.
More recently, Cloutier has been involved with non-partisan voter registration efforts through the League of Women Voters.
“It’s become clear neither party has done a good job of getting young people involved in government affairs,” she said.
As a result, local elections can be decided “by just a handful of votes,” because of the lack of participation.
Cloutier hopes to spread the message that by voting and becoming civically involved, you make a difference.
“If you don’t like decisions being made at your kid’s school, run for school board. If you want your town to do something differently, show up at council meetings, or run for office yourself. But make sure to vote!”
Cloutier has also become involved in Allen County Democrats, serving as its vice chair. Crucial to their effort is getting Democrats to run for office, which is why on the last day to file she threw her hat in the ring.
“I had planned on waiting two years, but when I saw the Republicans would be uncontested, it felt wrong for me to sit it out,” she said.
THE LACKof affordable healthcare for many Kansans is a concern for Cloutier. If elected, she would fight to expand Medicaid, so that more low-income Kansans would have access to health insurance.
“The fact that we couldn’t get Medicaid expansion passed in Kansas during a global pandemic is baffling,” she said, noting the increased need for healthcare.
Affordable healthcare affects a community “on so many levels,” she said. “An example I think about a lot is that we’ve made it so difficult for someone to make the jump to becoming a small business owner and to keep employees,” if they can’t afford to provide health insurance to employees.
