One of the hotly contested races in Kansas in the primary will be for the 1st District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The seat which traditionally goes to Republicans, includes former Lt. Governor Tracey Mann who is hoping to edge out Finney County Commission Chair Bill Clifford for the GOP nomination. Mann says one of his top priorities is addressing low commodity prices for farmers and ranchers.
“We’ve got to return to normal trade relations to boost demand to increase our commodity prices and also our livestock prices. I’m also a big proponent of keeping an economy open. We can’t be in a situation where we’re open and then closed and then reopen because that negatively impacts demand for our ag products,” he said.
Mann, who has the endorsement of Kansas Farm Bureau, says if elected, he’d seek a spot on the House Agricultural Committee to advocate for increased trade opportunities and talks about the need to be proactive to finding lucrative trade opportunities to help Kansas producers.
“Japan is a huge beef export market for us. I think there’s more we could do there. I think other countries in southeast Asia, Vietnam certainly, other countries in Africa starting to grow their economies. It depends on the product, but without a doubt there’s a lot of opportunity,” he said.
Mann says it takes time for good trade relationships to be built. He also favors relieving burdensome regulations on farmers from the Environmental Protection Agency and others.
Mann says he’s also a huge proponent of rural broadband, noting the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the crucial need it plays especially with more students and families working and schooling from home and farmers needing a level playing field in the world economy.
“People talk about school from home or telehealth or telemedicine but if you don’t have good internet connection that just really isn’t possible,” he said. “And today agriculture is so sophisticated, our farmers and ranchers are competing in a global market and we’ve got to have good internet connections all across the Big 1st.”
Another area Mann wants to see regulations rolled back is in the child care industry. Mann says he worked on some of this during his brief tenure two years ago as lieutenant governor.
“Of course we all want our kids to be safe, that’s a given. So we have to do it safely, but I think there are some regulations that are in place that could be lessened,” he said.
Mann didn’t provide specific details of his plan but says he recognizes the obstacle to growth the challenges of a day care provides and says he believes there are things at the federal level that can be done to minimize some of those obstacles.
He also says he stands with President Trump on many issues. While he doesn’t believe a delay in the Nov. 3 election is warranted, like the president suggested in a tweet last week, deemed by some as “tongue in cheek,” Mann says he is confident in state’s ability to hold a safe and secure election.
“We do need to make sure that our election process is safe and secure. Certainly I think how the election looks in Kansas and what those processes are is different than in other states,” he said.
Mann is opposed in the Republican primary by Finney County Commission Chair Bill Clifford. Democrats in the primary include Kali Barnett of Manhattan (formerly from Garden City) and Christy Cauble Davis of Cottonwood Falls.
Mann appeared on KMAN’s In Focus Monday morning. The full interview can be found below.
