Mary Rupert – Page 58 – Welcome to Wyandotte Daily!

Two candidates run for Republican nomination for 33rd District, Kansas House

Two candidates are seeking the Republican nomination in the 33rd District, Kansas House.

Clifton Boje and Mike Thompson are running for the Republican nomination.

Boje, 44, of Bonner Springs, said he is seeking office primarily to deal with the abortion issue.

“I want to see it criminalized as murder, for putting to death God’s creation unjustly,” he said.

Boje said he would support a proposed law that would classify abortion of living children as homicide. Homicide laws already in effect then would take care of the process, he said. A bill has been crafted and already was introduced, and would be reintroduced next session, he said.

Boje said the proposed law would not apply to miscarriages, or to cases in which the child dies at some point that is not part of an abortion. He said it would apply if the child is being put to death on purpose.

He said he spends a lot of time in front of Planned Parenthood offices, trying to convince women to let them help. (A video of Boje’s protest at a Planned Parenthood clinic, with arguments back and forth on loudspeakers, has been posted on YouTube by those who support pro-choice at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9QXcT4vA9Y.)

Boje teaches private music lessons and plays music for his church, Cornerstone Community Church. He is the founder of Acorn Performing Arts.

Boje has three associate degrees, including two in general studies and one in worship and music. His degrees were from Johnson County Community College and Kansas City College and Bible School, now called Kansas Christian College, in Overland Park. He studied music at the college level but did not complete his bachelor’s degree.

Besides his church membership, he is a member of Kansas Abortion Is Murder and Abolish Abortion Kansas.

Boje said the abortion issue is the main reason he ran, and he has been studying other issues that may come before the Legislature. He said he wants to see the government “doing its main job under what God has given it to do,” which is “to protect people and their personal property.” He also said people should be encouraged to be accountable in their actions.

See more information about Boje at bojeforkansashouse.mystrikingly.com.

Mike Thompson, 71, said he has lived a life of service, and now that he is retired, he would like to be of service to democracy.

That is one of the reasons he is running for office, he said.

Thompson served as an Army chaplain, and before that in the U.S. Navy as a SEAL. He retired as a lieutenant colonel.

“As a chaplain I’ve buried soldiers who have died for our freedom, and I do not take that lightly,” he said. “Instead of complaining, I always learned you get in and serve and work to make things better.”

Another reason he is running is that it’s time for a new voice in Wyandotte County, he said.

“What I can bring to the table is the new voice,” he said. His background demonstrates his integrity, honesty, commitment and loyalty, he said.

It also demonstrates the ability to relate to people of all diverse areas of life, being open-minded and listening to them, he said.

“Ninety percent of what I did in the hospital in the military was counseling, and I learned to listen and be open to both sides, and listen to what’s going on behind the presenting issues,” Thompson said.

As he goes door-to-door in the district, he hears people say they’re ready for a change, he said. The economy plays a role in that.

“If our community prospers, our citizens will prosper, and right now they’re struggling,” he said.

Thompson, who is not the meteorologist by the same name who serves currently in the Kansas Senate, is a retired military officer. He spent 22.5 years with the military, first in the Navy in the 1970s, where he served with the SEAL team, and later, returned to active duty with the Army as a chaplain at age 43.

He served as a command chaplain for the 82nd Airborne, and had different assignments through the years, retiring as garrison chaplain at Fort Leavenworth.

Between his Navy and Army service, he was a chaplain at several hospitals, doing a lot of grief counseling.

Thompson currently serves in his second term on the Bonner Springs City Council. One of his roles is liaison between Bonner Springs city and the Bonner Springs-Edwardsville area church ministers. He also volunteered at Vaughn-Trent Community Services and served as Tiblow Days car show chairman in 2012 and 2013.

Thompson has done undergraduate work at Pittsburg State University, then finished his degree at Dallas Baptist University. He has a Master of Divinity degree from Southwest Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, Texas, and did internships at two hospitals.

Thompson currently teaches Sunday School at his church. He belongs to the VFW, American Legion and the UDT / SEAL Association. UDT stands for underwater demolition team, including Navy teams who dived in to help astronauts in space capsule recovery.

According to his campaign information, he also is a former Lenexa police officer and a former business owner of a welding shop in Oklahoma.

His campaign information also says he is in favor of growing jobs and wages, cutting wasteful spending, keeping neighborhoods safe, improving public safety, more funding for schools, more say for parents in education, putting families first, protecting constitutional rights and protecting the unborn.

He has endorsements from the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Kansans for Life.

Campaign finance reports filed this week at the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission stated that Thompson’s campaign had cash available of $25,062, raising $13,927.17 during the reporting period, expending $4,861.53 and having $20,200.47 cash on hand at the close of the period.

Boje’s campaign filed a statement that said he intended to receive or expend less than $1,000.

See more about Thompson’s campaign at https://thompsonforkansashouse.com/.

Voting details

Early voting in person is currently taking place in Wyandotte County.

Voting on Election Day, Aug. 2, is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at assigned polling places.

For more information about voting, see https://wyandotteonline.com/early-voting-in-person-starts-saturday/.

Visit the Wyandotte County Election Office website at wycovotes.org or call 913-573-8500 for more details on times and places to vote.

To see an updated map of Kansas House seat boundaries in Wyandotte County, and determine what district you are in, visit https://www.wycokck.org/files/assets/public/election-office/kshouseofrep24x36clip.pdf. Some boundaries recently changed.

Registered voters also can learn their district number and see what will be on their ballot at Voter View, https://myvoteinfo.voteks.org/VoterView.

To see a story about the Democratic candidates for the 33rd District, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/33rd-district-attracts-three-democratic-candidates/.

To reach Mary Rupert, editor, email maryr@g3f.1db.myftpupload.com.

35th District candidates seek election

Two Democrats and two Republicans are seeking election in the Aug. 2 primary election for the 35th District, Kansas House.

Incumbent Rep. Broderick Henderson, who has served in the district since 1995, is not running for re-election.

Running for the Democratic nomination are Nelson R. Gabriel and Marvin S. Robinson II.

Seeking the Republican nomination are John H. Koerner and Sam Stillwell.

Democratic candidates

Nelson R. Gabriel is running for the Democratic nomination for the 35th District, Kansas House.

Gabriel said the northeast area of Kansas City, Kansas, is probably the most underrepresented area of Wyandotte County. For the past 20 years there has been no real economic development, he believes.

Gabriel said his top issue is Medicaid expansion.

“A lot of people in our area have mental health issues that they can’t get treated because they don’t have access to health care,” Gabriel said. Medicaid expansion should help with that, he added.

Besides Medicaid expansion, he favors additional funding for adult basic education, he said.

“I thought I could lend my voice to helping with this affordable housing piece,” he said.

“In our district, about 46 percent of 66101 and 66102 residents do not have a high school diploma,” Gabriel said. Workforce efforts need to be expanded, and education is a way to do that, he said. While almost 7,000 jobs are available in Wyandotte County, much of the workforce is not trained and does not have the skill sets to fill those positions, he added.

If elected, Gabriel said he would like to communicate more with constituents, including holding town hall meetings.

Gabriel previously ran for the House 35th District.

He is president and CEO of Made Men, a workforce education organization in Kansas City, Kansas, that helps people get their GEDs and high school diplomas and connects them with jobs, food and rental housing. He has his GED and has attended classes at Donnelly College.

Gabriel is active in his church and also is a member of the NAACP and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

Marvin S. Robinson II is known for his efforts to preserve the Quindaro Ruins and townsite in the northeast area of Kansas City, Kansas.

He is an independent volunteer researcher.

Robinson was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy, where he served as an operations specialist.

He attended Sumner High School, Emporia State University and the U.S. Naval Training Command School at Great Lakes, Illinois, where he received certification as an operations specialist. He also has done course work at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Robinson was co-organizer of a Black Think Farm on the Quindaro Ruins and Underground Railroad. He has devoted many years to environmental justice and historic preservation restoration attempts.

If elected, he would like to see the state formally invite the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Veterans Archaeological Project, to come in and begin preservation of the foundations of the Quindaro Ruins townsite, providing opportunities to veterans of the area.

He also supports flood control state-of-the-art implementations for the Quindaro area. In addition, he supports implementation of a drone imaging system at the Quindaro Ruins that would identify what lies below the surface of the land.

If elected, he would support getting assistance from Kansas for preservation of African-American burial grounds, he said. Legislation has passed in the U.S. Senate for this effort. This project would help identify veterans who are buried there without any gravemarkers or headstones, according to Robinson.

Robinson also stated that he supports more services for veterans, including more assistance with paperwork for benefits. He is aware of a new veterans facility by the Legends, but all veterans’ needs cannot be resolved by it.

He also supports updates and modifications to the Kansas African American Advisory Commission to expand its reach.

In addition, he supports more jobs and job creation, expanding entrepreneurship platforms, with diversity, equity and inclusion.

Robinson stated his background in the Navy has given him skills such as team building. He said his family history includes many members who served in the military since the American Revolution.

Robinson has been endorsed by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. He also is active in his church, and was introduced at a summer convocation.

Republican candidates

Running for the Republican nomination for 35th District are Sam Stillwell and John H. Koerner.

Stillwell, 53, has 23 years experience as a teacher. He received his diploma from Lincoln Academy, a Bachelor of Science in political science from Ottawa University and a Master of Arts and Teaching from Park University.

Stillwell is a member of the National Rifle Association and the Wyandotte County Republican Party.

“I want to be a stronger voice for the citizens of District 35,” Stillwell stated. “As Wyandotte County develops, District 35 remains undeveloped and overlooked. The Northeast of KC, Ks is a strong, historical community that has much to offer the great state of Kansas. I will be their voice in Topeka.”

Stillwell’s top three issues:
“I would lower taxes for Kansans. I would promote economic prosperity throughout the state, but especially in District 35. I would work with the state board of education to address issues keeping our kids from getting as proper education.”

Stillwell previously ran unsuccessfully for the state Senate, 4th District.

John Koerner, 50, said one of his reasons in running for office is to bridge the gap between the two parties.

“I believe that a representative needs to be a civil servant,” he said. He explained the representative needs to be a servant of the people and bring morality back to the government.

“With inflation as high as it is, we need to get rid of the taxation on food products, so that we can help relieve some of the stress on families for putting food on their table,” he said.

Koerner has not run for office before. He said he has always been kind of an independent, voting for the best candidate from the different parties, and he likes some of the Libertarian views.

Koerner, who was born in the Topeka area and grew up in the Big Springs area, has some college and has gone through classes as a member of the U.S. Army Reserves. He worked on maintenance of Chinook helicopters with the Reserves. As a civilian, he drives a flatbed tractor-trailer. He has lived in the Kansas City area about 15 years.

Koerner also said he supports term limits for Congress.

He is doing a grassroots campaign and not taking campaign donations, he added.

Voting details

Early voting in person is currently taking place in Wyandotte County.

Voting on Election Day, Aug. 2, is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at assigned polling places. Mail-in ballots also are available until Tuesday, July 26.

For more information about voting, see https://wyandotteonline.com/early-voting-in-person-starts-saturday/.

Visit the Wyandotte County Election Office website at wycovotes.org or call 913-573-8500 for more details on times and places to vote.

To reach Mary Rupert, editor, email maryr@g3f.1db.myftpupload.com.

33rd District attracts three Democratic candidates

With Rep. Tom Burroughs not running for re-election to the 33rd District, Kansas House, the primary has attracted five candidates, including three Democrats.

Burroughs served in the Legislature for 26 years, including a role as minority leader in 2015.

Three Democrats and two Republicans now are running for their party’s nominations in the Aug. 2 primary.

Taylor R. Dean, Bill Hutton and Mathew Reinhold are running for the Democratic nomination.

Clifton Boje and Mike Thompson are running for the Republican nomination.

Early voting starts Saturday in person in Wyandotte County. For details on early voting, see https://wyandotteonline.com/early-voting-in-person-starts-saturday/.

Taylor Dean is a Turner resident and union laborer who supports a minimum wage of $15 an hour, improved working conditions, legalizing cannabis and expanding Medicaid, he said.

“You hardly ever hear of too many politicians at the national or state level who really care about appealing to workers and prioritizing the policies advocated by the labor movement, and I wanted to bring those ideas into the public discourse,” Dean said.

Dean, 28, is a community activist and member of the Wyandotte County Young Democrats. From Junction City, Kansas, he has a degree from Kansas State University. His bachelor’s degree is in history with a minor in political science.

He moved to the Kansas City area in 2018 to work on the Proposition A campaign in Missouri, and he said he discovered that Wyandotte County was the place in the metropolitan area that most appealed to him. He said he had been involved with campaigns before, but never realized the amount of work that takes place.

Dean originally filed for the 37th District this spring, but redistricting lines later were drawn that placed him in the 33rd District. His home was one block away from the new redistricting line. He then decided to refile for the 33rd District after hearing that Rep. Burroughs would retire.

Dean is an eight-year member of Laborers Local 1290, and in his free time he likes to volunteer at KC Farm School on Gibbs Road and also is active in his union.

Another issue Dean would like to work on is local control, to get more home rule authority for local communities in the state, he said.

For more information, see https://www.taylordeanforkansas.com/.

Bill Hutton, Kansas City, Kansas, is an attorney who has served as the municipal court judge for Bonner Springs since 2003. He also served as municipal court judge in Kansas City, Kansas, from 1996 to 1999, and as a hearing officer for the Kansas City, Kansas, Housing Authority since 2018.

Hutton, 67, attended Washington High School and has degrees from Kansas City Kansas Community College and the University of Kansas, where he received a bachelor’s degree and law degree.

Hutton cited Burroughs’ retirement as a reason for running. “I felt my community-wide experience and interest and involvement would be an asset to the state legislature,” he stated in a questionnaire for the Wyandotte Daily.

Hutton’s three top issues are Medicaid expansion, a push for a statewide vote on the Medicaid issue in 2023; elimination of the sales tax on food, fast-tracked to eliminate it as early as 2023; and full funding of the public schools, supporting legislation to encompass special education, school safety and technology in the upcoming session.

If elected, Hutton stated he would seek to forge alliances across the aisle in the Legislature, working with Democrats and Republicans alike on common goals.

Hutton is active in the Wyandotte County Historical Society, Downtown Shareholders of KCK, Wyandotte County YMCA Advisory Board, Union Station volunteer, SMID Board and Wyandotte County Bar Association.

Hutton has been endorsed by the Kansas National Education Association, the Tri-County Labor Council, Firefighters Local 64, the Greater Kansas City Building and Trades Council, the Kansas Contractors Association and KC BizPAC.

Hutton previously ran for the state Senate in 2016, in a district that was 60 percent Leavenworth County and 40 percent Wyandotte County, losing in the general election by less than 1 percent of the vote.

For more information, see https://www.facebook.com/BillHutton33rd.

Mathew Reinhold said he is running on a working class platform of utility reform, trying to end the state ban on rent control for local municipalities, and end the state ban on local wage reform. He is in favor of a $15 minimum wage. He also favors rebuilding the local ad valorem tax relief fund to get tax relief to people.

He said he has seen friends and coworkers working multiple jobs but not able to keep their heads above the water. The Legislature needs to focus more on bread-and-butter issues, he said.

Reinhold, 24, is seeking office for the first time. His current occupation is cook. He said he decided to run just in the past six months, when it seemed like times were harder and politicians were out of touch with that reality.

He was raised in the Leavenworth area and spent the last three years of high school at Lansing High School, he said. He studied linguistics at the University of Kansas, where he finished coursework but has not yet received his degree, he said.

Reinhold said if elected, he wants to be a very visible member of the community, attending events and local meetings, and be accessible.

He said he wanted to hold town hall meetings and take the input back to Topeka. He added he would like to actively fight for his platform in the Legislature.

For more information, see https://mathewreinhold2022.wixsite.com/website.

A story about the Republican candidates for the 33rd District is planned next week. Thompson is a Bonner Springs councilman, and is not the former weatherman by the same name who is serving in the Senate. Boje is the founder of Acorn Performing Arts.

To contact Mary Rupert, editor, email maryr@g3f.1db.myftpupload.com.