The Kansas General Election is November 3. Kansans will vote for their next state and federal representatives and senators and the next governor.
Voters in Crawford County will vote for their next representative for District 3. The two candidates, Isaiah Harris and DJ Perry, previously ran against each other for Pittsburg City Commission. The voters selected Perry.
Perry is running as the Republican candidate. He's a retired Army officer and has been active in local politics. If elected, he plans to keep his seat on the city commission.
According to Perry, he'll bridge the gap between the city of Pittsburg and the statehouse.
"I'll be able to have information from both entities, bring that together, and I think it'll benefit the community in a good way," he said.
Perry decided to run for the state legislature when current District 3 Rep. Chuck Smith, who's retiring after this year, asked him to consider the job.
He's talked with about 40 current state representatives and senators since filing for office. He's talked with legislators from both parties. According to him, many of them had the same consensus.
"Their advice is just to take it in, you know, experience what's going on, ask lots of questions, and learn how to be effective in your position," Perry said.
Perry said voters tell him they are concerned about the cost of living and property taxes.
TheKansas Family Voice and the National Federation of Independent Businesses have endorsed him.
Isaiah Harris is the Democratic candidate for District 3. He's 28 years old and works in customer service at Dillons in Pittsburg.
Harris did not win a seat on the Pittsburg city commission last year. But according to him, his campaign for the commission and the legislature are very similar. He said many people in House District 3 are still struggling with affordability.
“They'ssues that I experienced growing up, and it's still the case for people in our community,” he said.
He said voters should demand more from their government and that "it is possible that politics can be a unifying force and that our government has a responsibility to make people's lives better.”
Harris considers himself a Democratic Socialist—a rising subsection of the Democratic Party.
The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has endorsed him.
Speaking to the DSA and what the party wants, he said, “We want a democratic system that is focused on the foundational American principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Harris's other endorsements include groups like theSoutheast Kansas chapter of the DSA, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organization, theKansas National Education Association and the Kansas Young Democrats.
Harris and Perry have both lived and worked in Pittsburg their whole lives.
