Topeka ? Jim Faris said he got bitten by the political bug when he was an eighth-grader at Oskaloosa Middle School and served for a day in the Capitol as a page.

“I’ve wanted to get back there ever since,” Faris said Wednesday after filing to run as a Democrat for state representative in the 47th House District.

The seat is currently held by Lee Tafanelli, a Republican from Ozawkie, who is expected to seek re-election.

Faris, 22, of Ozawkie, plays bass and fiddle in The Faris Family, a bluegrass band that performs all over the region.

“I may not have experience, but I have a willing and determined heart,” Faris said.

He said he would work for a better system of education, and funding of foster care and adoption “that will help find loving parents for these needy Kansas children.”

Faris, who is single, said he was moved to focus on foster care after reading news reports about children in the system.

Faris attended high school in Oskaloosa, but then was home-schooled as the family band became more active.

Home-schooling didn’t work, he said, so he got his general educational development certificate and will attend Highland Community College in the fall.

Faris said he has been interested in politics all his life and decided it was time to become a participant instead of standing on the sidelines.

“I’m tired of being a Monday morning quarterback,” he said.