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Rob Wasinger hopes to fill Jerry Moran's Congressional seat. Courtesy photo.
Congressional candidate visits Ellsworth
By Linda Mowery-Denning
Last Updated: April 14, 2009
In years past, the concerns of Ellsworth County were the concerns of Clay County and Thomas County and dozens of other communities in the Big First Congressional District.
That continues to be true to some extent. Voters in the Big First still worry about wheat prices, access to health care and other issues they have in common.
Now, though, there also are the individual issues: the development of wind energy at Colby and Goodland, highways at Garden City, airport infrastructure at Elkart, a reverse osmosis plant at Hutchinson.
Rob Wasinger, a Hays Republican and former chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, had heard about them all.
Wasinger, who wants to follow Congressman Jerry Moran, another Hays Republican, in the U.S. House of Representatives, was in Ellsworth Monday as part of a Big First tour. There are 69 counties in the district.
Wasinger, 36, now lives in Cottonwood Falls with his wife, Meghan, and their nine children. The family is restoring an old limestone house.
However, his connections with Hays remain strong. His parents live there and he plans to open a regional campaign office this month in the city.
Wasinger said his goal is “prosperty for rural Kansas.”
As Brownback’s chief of staff, he worked “The New Homestead Act,” which would reward people willing to locate in high out-migration counties. Fifty percent of Kansas counties have suffered from 10 percent population loss in the last 20 years. With that out-migration comes the loss of resources as rural wealth shifts from those who live there to children and grandchildren with addresses in Johnson County and other urban areas.
“Something to get money coming into rural Kansas instead of going out,” Wasinger said.
Wasinger also worked on legislation that included $400,000 for a study on the reallocation of water in Wilson Lake. The cities of Hays and Russell have identifed the lake as a future water source.
The study has raised concerns in other communities that reappropriation of water for city and municipal use could come at the expense of recreation, an economic lifeline for smaller communities in the shadow of the lake.
“There are water issues that have to be addressed,” Wasinger said. “Hays has done a great job of managing a limited resource.”
At the federal level, Wasinger said he would not have supported the economic stimulus package approved earlier this year by Congress.
“We’re just shifting the blame and the burden to future generations,” he said.
Wasinger is one of almost a half-dozen candidates for Moran’s seat. Moran plans to run for Brownback’s Senate spot.
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