Mayor, Manhattan, Kansas

City Commissioner, Manhattan, Kansas

Candidate, United States House of Representatives, District 1, 2014

Founding Board Member, Regional Planning Organization and the Flint Hills Regional Council

Owner, Daughters House Bed and Breakfast, 2010-present

History Professor, Department of History, Kansas State University, 1992-present

High School Teacher

Historian, Kansas Historic Sites Board of Review, 1997-2009

Chair, Economic Development Committee, Board of Directors of Downtown Manhattan, Inc, 2005-2007

Domestic Radio Operator, United States Air Force, 1970-1974

Staff Sergeant, United States Air Force, 1970-1974

No organizational membership information on file.

Reason for Seeking Public Office:

My Fellow Kansans,

As a fourth-generation Kansan born in the Big First, I was raised with the principles of the Kansas heartland. My dad, a machinist for International Harvester, and my mom, a nurse, taught me that decent, humble people help their neighbors build strong towns and prosperous states. When problems arise you don't name call on television, you approach issues with respect and practicality. More than anything, they instilled in me the belief that no matter where I might go, I was to leave the place better than I found it.

I've dedicated my life to understanding the history of this state so that I can help move it forward. As a educator and small business owner, I have struggled to meet the same challenges as middle class families across the Big First. My experience as Mayor showed me we need a representative who will work as hard on your behalf as Kansan teachers, workers, farmers and ranchers do in their fields of endeavor every day.

I believe our government isn't just divided, it's paralyzed; and it's going to take hard work, perseverance, and a pragmatic approach to get it back on its feet and working for the people, not against them.

President Eisenhower said, "This [nation] of ours must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect."

I'm tired of being told who to hate, and what to fear. I'm tired of my opinions and my values being disrespected and distrusted by my own representatives. And I'm tired of representatives who place their personal agenda over the needs of their constituents.

I believe a "proud confederation of mutual trust and respect" is possible. Cooperation united the thirteen colonies into the strongest democracy in history. Cooperation reshaped diverse values and languages into a set of rights coveted throughout the world. Cooperation transformed immigrant strangers into those neighbors I am proud to call my fellow Americans.

Now is the time to cast off our ideological blinders and open our eyes to what lies ahead. Now is the time to do what's right for Kansas families and businesses. Now is the time to elect politicians we can trust, and who trust us to know the difference between real concerns and manufactured fear.

Now is the time to show America how we can prosper using not only our actions and voices, but also our hearts. And it starts right here, in the Heartland.

Will you join me?