Katie Sawyer visited Jewell County

Katie Sawyer visited Mankato

 

August 4, 2022



Katie Sawyer who ran for lieutenant governor of Kansas was at Possibilities on Thursday. She explained the lieutenant governor and the governor are on the same ballot, so if you voted for Derek Schmidt, you also voted for her. Sawyer was introduced by Keith Roe.

Katie Sawyer was born and raised in McPherson. She went to school in southeast Kansas at Pittsburg State University. When she returned to McPherson, she ran the newspaper for a little bit. Her husband is a fourth generation farmer in McPherson County. She hopes her two boys will be fifth generation farmers.

For the past approximately six years, Sawyer has worked as the state director for Senator Roger Marshall. She has traveled all 105 counties in Kansas. "I learned what really made Kansas unique," said Sawyer.

Sawyer said the focus she and Derek Schmidt want to work on is healthy families, thriving communities and a thriving state economy. She states a slow and steady increment of population growth can be achieved by communities highlighting what they consider valuable and are proud. "I think that's contagious and makes people realize what they have and what makes their community unique and special ," Sawyer said. Communities need to make sure they have the environment and resources to bring people in, was the answer to Brenden Wirth's inquiry on how to keep residents coming to and staying in town.

When asked about wind energy being sent to other areas, Sawyer answered "Nearly everything we make in Kansas is exported. We are an export state which I think is great because that's where the markets are. Kansas has to be one of the most energy diverse states in the country from coal plants, to a nuclear plant, and ethanol plants to wind turbines to natural gas," Sawyer said. "We have it all, and that's fantastic!"

According to Sawyer, the baseline of the campaign was an all of the above approach. "I think we need to maintain this for a variety of reasons, none the least because we've seen federal government trying to put their hands in what an energy portfolio should look like," Sawyer said. "We need to maintain energy independence."

In order to make sure local school boards have local control of what is being done in schools, Sawyer said she and Schmidt plan to work on transparency and teacher-parent conversation. "I think it is important for the success of our students," Sawyer said. "Teachers know what the students need in the classroom and parents know what the kids need." Sawyer believes these conversations should be encouraged and conducted in a civil and productive way. If schools and communities come together, Sawyer believes every student would be encouraged to have a destination after graduation, whether it be in college or the workforce.

From population growth to energy independence to education plans, Sawyer gave the meeting attendees plenty to think about prior to the Aug. 2, election.

 

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