Nick VanWyhe

Rep. John Wilson

With the Nov. 4 election just weeks away, the Journal-World caught up with the candidates running to represent the Kansas House districts encompassing Lawrence.

Republican Nick VanWyhe and incumbent Rep. John Wilson, a Democrat, are vying to represent House District 10 in the Kansas Legislature.

Nick VanWyhe, Republican

As a Kansas University senior studying political science, VanWyhe, the Republican candidate for the Kansas Legislature’s 10th District, is getting a hands-on learning experience.

“A professor told me that they thought it was interesting to hear from a student going through the campaign process, rather than just reading about it,” VanWyhe said.

VanWyhe said though his name can be seen on signs around town, he hopes not all of his professors are aware of his “extracurricular activity.”

“I am hesitant to let professors know,” VanWyhe said. “I saw a survey last semester that said professors give stricter grades on the fact that their students are Republican.”

Before going back to school last year to complete his degree, the 24-year-old Kansas Army National Guard member was deployed to the horn of Africa, where he said he saw firsthand the effects of government spending.

“While deployed from 2011 to 2012, that was when the budget issue at the federal level affected the military,” VanWyhe said. “I saw the disconnect between politicians not handing issues.”

VanWyhe said that all states must “do their part” to reduce the national debt. For example, VanWyhe said he supports Gov. Sam Brownback’s decision not to expand the Medicaid program as allowed under the Affordable Care Act.

“The state should be self-sufficient. Kansas is still contributing to the national debt.” VanWyhe said. “The less assistance it asks of the federal government, the more independent we will be on the budgeting issue.”

If elected, VanWyhe said he does not yet know whether he will finish his final semester of college in the spring. He said he is thinking about how to balance school and the Legislature, but is waiting until Nov. 4 to make a decision.

“If it’s going to benefit the community and Kansas, I don’t mind putting a delay on my personal goals for the betterment of the state,” VanWyhe said. “I did it during my deployment in 2011 and I’ll do it again.”

Rep. John Wilson, Democrat

After graduating from Kansas University in 2006, Rep. John Wilson, a Democrat, spent a year in New York City working with the Clinton Foundation’s Alliance for a Healthier Generation before returning to Lawrence in 2007.

“In this community, there is a sense of place and connectedness,” Wilson said. “The pace of life is so much more enjoyable and Lawrence still offers the arts and culture of a larger city.”

This is Wilson’s second run to represent the 10th House District in the Kansas Legislature, and he said this time is a lot different from his first.

“Last time I ran, my wife, Jami, was eight and a half months pregnant. Now we have a 2-year-old,” Wilson said. “I’m still committed; it just means you might have to come over to my house as my son runs around my living room while we talk about energy policy.”

Wilson just finished his first term in the Kansas Legislature, where he sat on the Insurance and Health and Human Services committees, and served as the ranking minority on the Children and Seniors committee.

Wilson, who now works remotely from Lawrence as the national youth engagement adviser for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, said his greatest challenge in Topeka has been dealing with legislators unwilling to budge on certain legislation.

“The way the Capitol is running is a problem,” Wilson said “There is no collaboration, which is frustrating for someone like me who is in the business of finding solutions that help the most amount of people.”

Taking from his experience with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, Wilson said he supports investing in issues such as health care and community services to circumvent greater costs that could occur if issues are not resolved early on.

“In my work, I have developed a prevention lens to avoid costly expenses later,” Wilson said. “Up-front investments will help us in the long run if we can think about how all people can benefit from an issue, rather than trying to protect a few corporations.”