More Primaries Are Needed

No matter which party you or I support, I hope we can agree on one thing: more primaries are needed, especially for state government.

In Wyandotte County, there are going to be 10 elections for those currently in the Kansas House of Representatives and Kansas Senate. There will be only one primary: in District 5 of the Kansas Senate between Kelly Kultala and Mark Gilstrap. That means nine delegation members will be essentially elected without defeating an opponent, since there are no Republicans running in the general election in in the nine other ones.

This is bad for democracy. Like all institutions, competition is good. In the economy, competition brings the best out in terms of quality and price. The government should be the same way.

More primaries are absolutely needed for a better government. Regardless, I salute Kultala for challenging Gilstrap. I really could not care less who eventually wins the primary. This is not meant to be personal with the other delegation members. I just believe there is a need for more residents who seek to serve the public politically. It is bad when any politician gets too comfortable and opposition prevents that.

Last year in the county, a number of new faces ran for positions on the Unified Government Board of Commissioner and other governing bodies, which was a good thing. That now needs to be carried up to the state level.