Paul Buskirk Visits Colby
Paul Buskirk, the Democratic candidate for the 1st Congressional House District in Kansas, made a whirlwind tour through western Kansas on April 2-4 — intent on listening to concerns from the High Plains. He stopped in Colby on Tuesday, April 2nd.
“Coming from the eastern end of the huge Kansas First Congressional District, I feel it’s important for me to go to the western end of the state to see the rural issues from those who live there,” said Buskirk. “It’s important to listen to the needs of the people.”
Paul Buskirk, candidate for 1st Congressional District, with Connie Davis, Chair of the Thomas County Democrats
Buskirk began his day in Colby visiting the Criminal Justice career fair at Colby Community College, listening to students and with networking with over twenty presenters from western Kansas. Several young people registered to vote and talked about costs of education tuition.
In the afternoon, Thomas County Democrat Chair, Connie Davis, took Paul around Colby to see sites of major employment, including a dairy and to observe work on Colby’s new $100-million regional hospital. Davis said one of the issues in rural western Kansas is to have medical services closer than Wichita or Denver.
A Colby Community College student whose father was the first immigrant to work for the local diary impressed upon Paul the need for immigrant workers in western Kansas.
In the evening, several farmers and teachers from Thomas County and Logan County met at El Dos Mexican Restaurant to discuss rural issues like ground water management and agriculture.
The hostess of the restaurant filled him in about frustrations of being a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA or “dreamer.”) Even though she’s lived in the US most of her life and is active in her community here, she is still ineligible to file for citizenship or vote.
At each stop, Buskirk asked his question, “What could he do as a Kansas Congressman to represent Kansans on the issues in Washington DC?” The answers consistently came back to issues of economics, healthcare, criminal justice, Kansas agriculture, immigration, and civil rights.
Buskirk began his campaign for Congress last fall with an announcement in his home city of Lawrence.
Buskirk is the only Democrat to date that has Congress in the First District, with a primary election to be held Tuesday, August 6.
The winner of the primary will likely face Republican incumbent Tracey Mann in the general election that culminates on Election Day, November 5, 2024. New voter registration deadline is 21 days before an election day.