The record is clear.

Rep. Tom Holland, D-Baldwin, voted for a bill that would have raised $150 million in new taxes for schools.

He was willing to back Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ $304 million package, before it stalled in the Senate.

“I supported a tax increase. I think we need to put more money in the classroom,” Holland said.

“Now, I think we still have some excess in administrative costs and some inefficiencies in the business processes,” he said. “But more than that, I truly believe that teachers are woefully underpaid.”

Holland, a two-year incumbent, is running against Leo Kerwin in the Aug. 3 Democratic primary for the 10th District seat in the Kansas House. The district, comprised of southeast Douglas County and northeast Franklin County, includes south-central Lawrence, Baldwin, Wellsville and north Ottawa.

The 10th District primary is one of only 14 Democratic primaries statewide — seven in the House, seven in the Senate.

Kerwin, who taught school for 34 years before retiring in 1998, said he, too, was willing to raise taxes for education. But not as much as Holland.

“I’d be willing to go for, say, $80 million to $90 million,” Kerwin said. “We have to do something.”

Kerwin compared his stand on school funding to having friends over for dinner during the 1930s and 1940s.

“Back then we all had gardens,” he said. “Before you went to the store to buy food for dinner, you checked to see what you had in the garden, so you only spent what you needed to spend.”

Kerwin said he might support spending more on schools if additional money could be found “in the garden.”

He blamed unfunded federal mandates for many of the financial problems facing schools.

“They have to do a lot of things that are not funded by the federal government,” he said.

On other issues:

• Abortion

Kerwin said he was anti-abortion. “I’m Catholic, but that’s not why I’m against abortion,” he said. “For me, it’s a constitutional thing. The Constitution says ‘life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.’ How can we have liberty and pursuit of happiness and deny life? It seems contradictory to me.”

The phrase “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” is from the Declaration of Independence, not the Constitution.

Holland said he preferred to leave the state’s abortion laws “the way they are.”

• Same-sex marriage

Date of birth: Oct. 14, 1932Occupation: Retired teacher, owner of Santa Fe Used Cars, BaldwinPolitical experience: NoneFamily: Married, three grown childrenReligion: CatholicAddress: 4229 Sand Creek Road, WellsvilleKey issues: Opposes abortion, supports some tax increases for schools

Holland voted for the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

“I got so many calls and e-mails on that,” he said. “It was pretty clear to me that a majority of the district supported putting the amendment on the ballot.”

Kerwin said he preferred not to take a cut-and-dried stand on the amendment.

“It has so many complications, it would be difficult to discuss it in a space as short as this,” he said referring to the newspaper.

Still, Kerwin warned that amending the constitution is a “powerful matter” that should not be taken lightly.

• Concealed carry

“Myself, I’m ambivalent about it. I shoot and I hunt,” Holland said. “But I heard from a lot of people in the district who were very much against it. I didn’t hear that much from those who wanted it.”

Kerwin said he didn’t have much use for concealed carry.

“We don’t need it,” he said. “Police see it as more of a danger to them because many of the shootings they deal with are done by close relatives and friends.”

• Illegal immigrants

Holland voted against a bill to allow some undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition rates at Kansas universities, instead of the more expensive out-of-state rates. The bill passed.

“I’m the only Democrat who voted against it,” he said, noting that he thought the bill gave tacit approval to hiring illegal immigrants.

“To me, this is all about preserving Kansas jobs,” he said. “Every day, I see small businesses out there having to compete with companies that keep their labor costs down by hiring illegal aliens. It’s to the point now where small businesses can’t compete in certain industries.”

Holland said he introduced a bill this year that would have increased the penalties for companies that knowingly hire illegal workers.

“It passed the House,” he said. “But the Senate didn’t vote on it.”

Kerwin said he wasn’t sure how he would have voted on the immigrant tuition bill.

“That bill, really, was about children of illegal immigrants and, to me, they’re not the issue,” he said. “The issue centers around giving somebody rights who’s here illegally. When you do that, you have a problem.”

The winner will face Lawrence resident Rich Lorenzo, a Republican, in the Nov. 2 general election.