I read news reports on the Democrat candidate Tom Holland of Baldwin City announcing his bid for governor of Kansas.
He joins Herbert West III of Paola, who re-entered the campaign, and Marty Mork of Wichita in the primary. Presumably, one of them will face Sam Brownback, officially a resident of Topeka but who spends most of his time “further east” in a place called Washington, DC.
If you draw a line from the town of Washington in north-central Kansas southward to the Udall area then to the Oklahoma line, this line nearly corresponds to Kansas Highway 15.
That seems to be an invisible barrier for aspiring governor hopefuls. And, if you take out a ruler and get a rough measurement of the dimensions, you also see more than half of the state is in the “forgotten land west of K-15.”
In my view, Kansas needs someone from this area to at least try to run for governor.
Surely, the larger towns of Hays, Great Bend, Dodge City, Beloit, Garden City, Colby and Liberal could find someone in their midst to run? Geography shouldn’t define a candidate’s capability.
But, some real attachment of blood, sweat and tears to western Kansas counties would help the next governor empathize rather than sympathize with the plight of rural residents who don’t have as much clout (but who have just as much “standing”) as urban Kansans.
The next governor should serve all Kansans — and not be part of the chosen few in the East.
— James A. Marples,
Esbon
