Democrat Congressional, Gubernatorial candidates get together at the Raymond Frye
by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — In heavily Republican Kansas, those who gathered for the Democrat Candidates Forum at the Raymond Frye Complex in Wellington on Saturday, know they are in for a long journey ahead.
Nevertheless, it was a spirited afternoon of exchanging ideas for the two Democrat candidates in the fourth U.S. Representative district, and for four Governor/ Lieutenant Governor candidates.
James Thompson
Congressional candidates James Thompson and Laura Lombard were in attendance.
Laura Lombard
Gubernatorial candidate Jack Bergeson, a 17-year-old who has made national headlines for his age running for governor, was in attendance Saturday. Also in attendance were Lieutenant governor candidates:
•Katrina Lewison, who is running with Governor candidate Joshua Svaty;
•Chris Morrow, who is running with Carl Brewer;
•Lynn Rogers, who is running with Laura Kelly.
There was no Governor candidate representation for the Arden Andersen campaign. Ed Trimmer, State Representative of the 79th District was the emcee for the event. Questions were asked on index cards by Trimmer.
Although there are no local primary races, Sumner County Democrats will have some choices on their ballot to vote come August 7.
Jack Bergeson
While the national Democrat party is fractured between establishment and progressive candidates, there seemed little difference between those in attendance Saturday. Most were uniformly in agreement on the various issues of the day. It was safe to say, President Donald Trump would have not won a popularity contest in that room.
If there was one question that differentiated the two congressional candidates, it was on Trump itself. An audience member asked if they were elected to Congress would they vote for the impeachment of Trump if given the chance.
Lombard answered “absolutely.” She then listed several reasons about the Russian investigation that would make her do so.
However, Thompson was not so adamant.
“I am a lawyer. It would be dishonest of me to say I would vote either way until I see the Special Prosecution report.”
Thompson is running for Congress for the second consecutive year. In 2017, he nearly upset Ron Estes in the special election to replace Mike Pompeo, who resigned from office to serve on the Trump cabinet and is not Secretary of State.
“We were tied going into the final week of that election,” Thompson said. “It took the President, the Vice President and the National Republican Party to tip the scale their way… I am confident, this time around, we can turn the fourth district blue.”
Lombard said she is running because of what she was seeing in the nation, and felt it was her time to make a difference.
“I kept hearing from people to not to run because you didn’t have the name recognition,” Lombard said. “After knocking on doors I can assure you I have as much name recognition as my opponent.”
There were a long line of topics, stemming from healthcare to the merging of the Department of Labor and Agriculture to vouchers to gun laws to climate change. When it came to the specific issues, Lombard and Thompson varied little.
On the gubernatorial side, the answers varied a little more, but those candidates were basically in agreement as well.
Teenager Bergeson won over many in the crowd with direct answers not toned over by political experience. When the candidates were asked how would you hold the Department of Children and Family Services accountable for the number of recent child abuse deaths, Bergeson pulled no punches.
“I believe what you are seeing from DCF is a crime, and I believe those who were are responsible for the negligence should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” Bergeson said. “They should see jail time, possibly life. There is no excuse. One child death may be excusable. Seventy? Inexcusable.”
While the NRA is popular in Kansas, not so much with this group. When asked about their NRA ratings, most bragged about getting “zero” ratings. When Rogers claimed that Kelly got a zero, Lewinson said Kelly’s rating was actually a 27. Bergeson said he is too young to get a “zero,” but if elected he would strive to achieve a zero.
Morrow, who is the mayor of Gardner, said he is a friend of Heath Freeman, a Wellington High School graduate, who served on the city council. He may have generated the biggest laugh of the day when he spoke about being against public vouchers to pay for students going to private schools.
“I went to a Catholic school growing up and didn’t benefit from a voucher system. My father told me if I’m going to a private school, I’d better get my butt out there in the summer and work and work, or there would be no funding for me to get a private education. That my friends is real choice.”
Most of the candidates were uncomfortable about arming teachers, but expressed desire to keep various concealed weapon laws. None of them like the law disallowing LGBTQ parents from adopting, and expressed support for renewable wind farm energy. The hemp question as a crop was widely supported, but Morrow was the one candidate that publicly expressed his desire for marijuana to be a legal drug in Kansas.
