Last month, we asked our readers what issues they wanted to hear the candidates running for office address ahead of this summer’s primary elections. Based on the input we received, we developed a five-item questionnaire for Republican candidates running for seats in the Kansas House and Senate.
We’ll be publishing the candidates’ responses to one item per day each day this week. Today we’re publishing the candidates’ responses to item five:
Do you support the entire platform of the Kansas Republican Party that was adopted in 2018? If not, which parts don’t you support and why?
Kansas Senate District 10
Tom Cox
I have always ran to represent a house district and am running now to represent a senate district. The district is made up of more than just Republicans. Additionally, the Republicans within it don’t all share the same views on every issue. The Republican Party Platform is not written by just the members of my district. I will always prioritize representing my district and the needs of the constituents within it. I will always present my views on issues to the voters and allow them to decide if they feel I am the right choice to represent them or not. I think voters should be wary of anyone swearing blind loyalty to a party over the constituents they are trying to represent.
Mike Thompson (incumbent)
I support the Republican Party platform, though I would tweak the energy section. While I fully support nuclear energy, wind and solar have proven to increase utility rates, and are not inexpensive to produce.
Kansas Senate District 11
John Skubal (incumbent)
I do not support the entire platform of the Kansas Republican Party. My mind is open and I will vote for what is important to our state and my district, not a party vote lock-step.
Kellie Warren
Elections are meant to identify choices for voters. Political parties have an important role to play in the process. If nothing else, they give the voter some basic information about the candidate, and generally what they stand for when asking for a person’s vote. We as candidates should be transparent about that. Too often, candidates deceive voters by taking on a party label, but underneath representing the values of the other party. You, the voter, deserve better, and deserve to have your candidates be transparent.
My husband and I grew up in Overland Park, graduated from Shawnee Mission South High School, we are raising our family of four kids here in Blue Valley schools, our parents and other family still live nearby, I am an attorney, and a lifelong Republican. The Republican party was the party founded at its core to fight slavery. It’s principles are common sense, uphold the Constitution, and generally promote individual flourishing, with limited government, and individual responsibility and accountability. The Kansas Republican Party Platform adopted in 2018, for example, upholds our Constitution as exceptional, expects the judiciary to respect the separation of powers, not make laws, recognizes the family as the strength of our communities, respects life, recognizes that our healthcare decisions should be made by individuals, not by government, our children should be taught to build upon their skills and knowledge, and our communities should be free of crime.
Those are the principles of the Kansas Republican Party as adopted in 2018, and I am proud to call them my principles, too. While there may be parts of the party platform that change when a new platform is written by party officials who change from term to term, the founding principles of limited government, ordered liberty, and individual accountability are why I am a Republican. I am always open to working with any person, no matter what affiliation, who is open to working with me.
Those are the principles of government that I hold, and that I will stand up for for all of us, as your State Senator. I’d appreciate your vote.
Kansas House District 18
Cathy Gordon
My initiation into the Republican days began with my grandmother serving as a precinct committee woman. She drove many the Kansas farm roads visiting neighbors, encouraging voters and supporting the party. I have been Republican since that day even though I had years before I could register.
Yes, I support the Republican Platform. I believe in the America who was successfully settled by missionaries and their faith in God.
Our state is settled and thrives because of hard working families who trust and fear God. Our natural resources are pure and hearty. Families thrive here. We are community in which voices echo, that Kansas is “one of the best places to raise your children”.
I will support and uphold the Republican platform to the best of my ability to empower our economy build and foster communities while keeping God and Family first.
Calvin Vandegrift
I briefly skimmed through the platform, and I do in fact agree with what it says.
Kansas House District 20
Jane Dirks
Yes, I support the 2018 platform of the Kansas Republican Party.
Jan Kessinger (incumbent)
The republican platform adopted in 2018 is worded in a positive and embracing way to appeal to many people, while proposing some extreme positions. There are areas where many republicans may have opinions that differ. The platform was written to appeal to the most conservative of republicans, but should not serve as a litmus test for “being a republican”. As thinking people, different views come to light and should be further discussed or recognized as different ways to achieve a common goal.
I support common sense gun laws and Medicaid Expansion that the platform opposes. I do not support the plank that calls for elimination of the corporate and personal income tax, nor do I support elimination of a woman’s right to choose. The Supreme Court has upheld that right and I respect the role of the court. The platform also calls for state funding of private schools, which I oppose.
I work to make the republican party stronger and better in serving Kansans. I am not one to fall in line and to be quiet when I see a better way and I am not afraid to stand up for what is right.
I was raised on the kind of Republican politics where getting things done is more important than getting credit; Working together is worth more than scoring political points and our common interests are valued more than our differences.
Differing opinions may not always be popular within any political party, but it is fundamental in providing good representation of the people. I provide a different perspective.
