Democrat Josh Svaty says Kansans want a problem solver as their next governor. That’s the takeaway message from his just-concluded tour of all 105 Kansas counties.
Svaty, a 37-year-old former legislator who headed the state Department of Agriculture under former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, says Kansans recognize that state government isn’t working as well as it used to. He says they vented about budget cuts, canceled road projects and diminished services under the state’s privatized Medicaid program.
“They see it. They know it’s happening. And they don’t like it," Svaty says. "And I think that they are ready for a candidate and a governor that unifies the state rather than divides it.”
Svaty – one of three candidates seeking the Democratic nomination – says potential Republican rival Kris Kobach, the state’s high-profile secretary of state, is a “hyper-partisan bomb thrower” who would further divide the state as governor.
Jim McLean is managing director of KMUW's Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KMUW, Kansas Public Radio and KCUR covering health, education and politics in Kansas. Follow him on Twitter @jmcleanks.
