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Kansas House of Representatives, District 010 Choose 1

The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for crafting and voting on legislation, helping to create a state budget, and legislative oversight over state agencies.

Voter Guide

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T.J. Campsey (Dem)

Biographical Information

Campaign Email campsey4ks@gmail.com
Campaign Web Site http://tjcampsey.com
Campaign Phone 785-256-0865
Campaign Address Campsey for Kansas
Instagram @tjcampsey
Personal Biography I grew up in a military family, we were stationed in Ft. Leavenworth in 1990, I moved to Lawrence in 2001. I currently work as a brewer.
Community/Public Service I've been active in political movements since the war in Iraq, and have organized with Occupy Lawrecnce, housing cooperatives, the labor movement, the movement for Palestine, and the anti-MAGA movement
Education Leavenworth High School
Ballot City Lawrence
County Douglas

What makes you the best candidate for this position? What skills, expertise, or competencies qualify you?

I am putting forward a bold policy vision that can unite working class people across the state of Kansas around our common interests. I will work with progressive and democratic forces in GOP held districts to rally the voters there around that vision and put pressure on their representatives to help pass policies that benefit the working class. I have more than 20 years of organizing experience that will help with that effort.

What are Kansas's three most important issues, and how do you intend to address them?

KanCare for all: We need a state-funded single payer health care system to replace the predatory private insurance companies. Patients should worry about healing, not bankruptcy.

A Democratic Bill of Rights: Our voting rights are under constant attack from the extreme right. We need to enshrine our democratic rights in the state constitution, to defend and expand them.

A Labor Bill of Rights: Union density has been on the decline for decades and so have conditions for the working class. To reverse that, we need strong protections in the state constitution, including the repealing of "right to work", establishing prevailing wages for public contracts, and protecting the right to organize and strike.

How would you make it easier for Kansas citizens to follow bills as they flow through the legislature? What, if any, changes would you propose in the “Gut and Go” process?

I will make regular communications with constituents about important bills through social media and an email newsletter.

"Gut and Go" is a dirty trick that has become all too common in the Kansas Legislature. Incredibly controversial bills, like SB 244 (the "bathroom bill"), can be forced through with little to no public comment. One chamber passes an innocuous bill, sends it to the other chamber, who guts it, removing all the language and replacing it with wholly new legislation, and sends it back for a simple reconciliation. It's an insult to transparency and accountability.

There needs to be a threshold for amendments, and bills that are changed too much must be handled as if they were brand new bills.

Would you support changes to Kansas election laws and voting systems? Why?

I have proposed a Democratic Bill of Rights, which will enact rank choice voting, establish a nonpartisan redistricting commission that only draws new districts once a decade, automatic voter registration for eligible voters, remove corporations' power to spend money in elections, join the National Interstate Popular Vote Compact to make the electoral college obsolete, repeal voter ID laws, establish public campaign financing, establish citizen-led ballot initiatives

Voter Guide

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Suzanne Wikle (Dem)

Biographical Information

Campaign Email suzanne4ks@gmail.com
Campaign Web Site http://SuzanneWikle.com
Campaign Address PO Box 26 Lawrence, KS 66044
Mailing Address PO Box 26
Lawrence, KS 66044
Instagram @wikle4ks
Personal Biography https://www.suzannewikle.com/about
Education MSW, University of Kansas
Ballot City Lawrence

What makes you the best candidate for this position? What skills, expertise, or competencies qualify you?

I bring twenty years of policy and advocacy experience to this work. I've worked extensively at the state and national level to advance policies on economic justice, affordable health care, and child/family policy. I am an expert on health and human services policy, including Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act. In my first term in office I passed legislation, I passed bipartisan legislation making narcan more accessible in communities, offered floor amendments on Medicaid expansion to force a vote and get every member of the House of Representative on record, helped work behind the scenes to pass pharmacy benefit manager reform, and consistently voted against attacks on voter rights and other extreme measures from the majority party.

What are Kansas's three most important issues, and how do you intend to address them?

Public Education - this is the largest expense in our state budget and one of the most important issues the legislature weighs in on. I'm a strong supporter of public education and will work to ensure our schools are fully funded (including special education), public dollars stay in public schools, and that we are also investing in early education and post-secondary education.

Health Care - I believe health care is a basic human right. In my first term I offered Medicaid expansion on the House floor and forced a vote so that every sitting member of the House is on record as supporting or opposing. There's much more we can do to lower prescription drug prices.

Taxes - I advocate for a progressive tax system that works for everyday Kansans.

How would you make it easier for Kansas citizens to follow bills as they flow through the legislature? What, if any, changes would you propose in the “Gut and Go” process?

The KS Legislature has a new website and I'm hopeful that will help Kansans follow bills. If the new website is not an improvement, I will continue to advocates for this function to be available on the website. I regularly help constituents track bills and will continue to do so.

The Gut and Go process is a double-edged sword. I recognize it is a tool often used in bad situations, but that is not always the case. This year I had a bill that makes narcan more available in communities and saves costs for social service organizations and law enforcement. The Speaker killed the bill for partisan issues, but the chairman of the health committee used a gut and go to keep the bill alive, and it ultimately passed.

Would you support changes to Kansas election laws and voting systems? Why?

Yes, absolutely! For starters I would bring back the three-day grace period for mail ballots and undo other recent harms. I also support same-day voter registration and automatic voter registration.

Our elections are safe and secure and I believe we need to focus on how to engage more people in the democratic process, rather that continue down the recent Republican path of restricting voting rights and making it harder to register to vote and vote.