Welcome back! Our Wednesday was very full and exciting. Earhart was named city of the day and Meredith Comas (Manhattan, KS) from Brooks was named reporter of the day.
Guests
A political career panel came to speak with us including Karen Hiller a Topeka City Councilwoman, Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew, First Lieutenant Erika Hane a Judge Advocate, and Assistant Attorney General Stacy Edwards. Delegates submitted questions beforehand to ask the panel. They spoke about their careers, what their job means, and what it means to be a public servant.
Lieutenant Governor of Kansas, Lynn Rogers addressed the delegates in the afternoon. He spoke about the importance of diversity in public service and made the statement “There’s enough of us old white guys doing what I do. We need to hand some responsibility over to young people… But you don’t need me to mansplain about how women are under-represented.” Rogers did discuss the importance of involvement in local government and Sophie Sallot (Leavenworth, KS) from McFarland stated “I have a new found perspective on my local government thanks to Lieutenant Governor Lynn Rogers. He highlighted the fact that state and local governments have the greatest impact on an individual. Before he brought this up, I had concerned myself mostly with the national government and had paid little mind to my local government and what it means.”
General Election Reslts
Much anticipated are the results of the general election. The Nationalist Party carries the majority in the house 16-8 and 4 of the 7 supreme court justices are Nats as well. The senate is split with no majority having 8 of each. State officers are as follows:
Governor - LyLena Estebine (Olathe) Seymour
Lieutenant Governor - Eva Noble (Topeka) Koger
Secretary of State - Rachel McWIlliams LV earhart
Attorney General - Bridget Shippers salter olathe
State Treasurer - Alexis Desch earhart topeka
Commissioner of Insurance - Hannah Guo mhk seymour
Justice #1 - Madelynn Collins koger yates center
Justice #2 - Sarah Sorum earhart el dorado
Justice #3 - Bailey Buchanan brown hutch
Justice #4 - Molly Biggs salter topeka
Justice #5 - Ann Beall topeka seymore
Justice #6 - Laurel Barber brown alma
Justice #7 - Abigail Loch brooks lansing
Evening Events
The House and Senate organized and split into committees and lobbyists were hired by counties to meet with reps and senators about topics they deemed important. The State Board of Education also met with legislators to discuss education.
Kansas Commissioner of Insurance Vicki Schmidt came in the evening and addressed the delegates. Schmidt was a girl stater herself and though she didn’t remember her city or what she ran for the memories that stuck were of camaraderie and friendships. She spoke of her accomplishments but also of failures. Of times when you must work hard, have confidence, and having fun. Olivia Talbert (Topeka, KS) from Seymour said “One thing Vicki said that hit me hard was that you should give yourself 30 seconds to have pity on yourself because losing isn’t easy but its a part of life. Then you have to move on cause thats the key to success. “