KANSAS — People tell you that your life changes when you have your first child. You know it will. That is why you plan. You think about schools, healthcare, college, and whether you are giving your child every opportunity you can.
Jenna and I thought about all of those things.
What I did not understand until my son was born was how much becoming a parent would change the way I looked at everything else.
The future stops feeling far away. It is holding your hand, sitting at the dinner table, and asking questions from the backseat. It is watching what you do and learning from your choices.
I began thinking more seriously about what kind of Kansas my sons would inherit.
Would they attend strong public schools? Would they be able to afford a home here? Would they have access to good healthcare? Would they want to stay in Kansas and build families of their own?
I could see the pressures families were already facing. Housing, groceries, healthcare, and childcare were becoming more expensive. Rural hospitals were struggling. Teachers were being asked to do more with less. Too many young people felt they had to leave Kansas to find opportunity.
That was not the future I wanted for my children, or anyone else’s.
I ran for the State Senate six years ago because I believed Kansas could do better. I am running for governor because I still do.
Kansas can be a state where every child attends a fully funded public school, every family can find affordable healthcare close to home, and young people can build their lives here.
We can attract cutting-edge companies, create good-paying jobs, maintain safe roads and bridges, make childcare more affordable, raise wages, and help seniors remain in their communities.
We can be welcoming and safe, respect individual freedom, and live up to our history as the Free State.
But getting there will require a governor willing to fight.
Washington politicians are raising costs and dismantling programs that help hospitals stay open, children stay fed, and families access healthcare. Republican leaders in Topeka have tried to defund public schools, restrict voting rights, and take away reproductive freedoms Kansans have already voted to protect.
I will stand up to the federal administration when it threatens our hospitals, economy, farmers, or neighbors. I will fight Medicaid cuts and policies that raise costs for working families.
I will stand up to the legislature when it tries to dismantle public education, undermine reproductive freedom, or rig the system against Kansans.
I am not afraid of those fights. I have spent my career taking them on.
As a voter protection attorney, I fought to ensure every eligible voter could make their voice heard. I helped build winning coalitions that elected Governor Laura Kelly and Congresswoman Sharice Davids.
In the State Senate, I helped eliminate the state sales tax on groceries and state income taxes on Social Security benefits. I supported a property tax freeze that helps seniors remain in their homes and fought for public schools, workers, and reproductive freedom.
Kansas faces serious challenges. Rural hospitals are at risk. Families are being priced out of their communities. Our schools need teachers, our businesses need workers, and too many young people wonder whether they can build a future here.
Those challenges are not reasons to lower our expectations. They are reasons to choose a governor who understands what is at stake and is ready to work.
When my sons ask what I did to protect their schools, freedoms, and future, I want to have a good answer.
I want to tell them that when Kansas faced a choice, we fought for one another. We chose strong schools, affordable healthcare, good jobs, and the freedom to build a life here.
That is the Kansas I am running to build.
On August 4, I am asking for your vote so we can build it together.
