Derek Schmidt, Nancy Boyda and John Hauer debate before election day

The three candidates seeking to represent Topeka in the U.S. House of Representatives expressed their views in a televised debate before Election Day.

Republican Derek Schmidt, Democrat Nancy Boyda and Libertarian John Hauer joined public television station KTWU and Washburn University's political science department on Oct. 25 for a debate. It was moderated by Washburn Professor Bob Beatty, with additional questions from students.

The trio of candidates is running in the 2nd Congressional District to replace U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, who has decided not to seek re-election.

“The Kansas 2nd District stretches north to south in eastern Kansas and really looks like a puzzle piece,” Beatty said. “With the lower part covering Coffeyville and Pittsburgh, the middle Emporia and Topeka, then a tiny strip that connects the south to the north and is so small that if you're in Eudora you might look east and see the 3rd District Then turn west and see the 1st District.

“The section used to be larger, but Lawrence was absorbed from the 2nd District after the 2020 census. Then there’s a little bit of Kansas City and Leavenworth, Atchison and Sabetha upstairs.”

The hour-long debate is available online.

What were the opening statements?

Schmidt advocated visiting each district in the county multiple times “to listen to people and understand what their hopes, concerns, fears and dreams are.” He said the three topics he hears most often are inflation, illegal immigration and “big government intrusion into our lives.”

“We have many challenges in this country – big, difficult problems – and we need serious people who are willing to go to Congress, fight for the values of eastern Kansas and work with other people from across the country who are also there Try to reach an agreement and make this country better, leave it better than we found it,” Schmidt said.

Boyda announced his willingness to vote against what the Democrats do.

“Solutions are the focus, not the extremes,” Boyda said. “I was known in Congress as an independent, moderate voice who had the courage to break with her party.”

She said she showed political courage by breaking with her fellow Democrats and comparing herself to Schmidt.

“He didn’t stand up to Brownback and his crazy tax experiment. … He did not stand up to Trump and his attempt to overturn the election,” Boyda said. “Derek gave in even though he knew it was the wrong thing to do.”

Hauer urged voters to reject requests for government help and instead take care of all the problems themselves. He spoke out against tax increases and government spending.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, please stop,” said Hauer. “Stop giving up on your decisions. Stop giving up your power. Stop giving up your rights. Stop giving up your freedom. Every time you ask the government for help, every time you ask the government to regulate something, every time you ask the government to address a problem for yourself, you are giving away your power.

“Every time the government does something, it comes with strings attached, it comes with a loss of personal control and accountability, and it comes at the expense of us, the taxpayers.”

immigration

Boyda said she believes in securing the border but spoke out against deportation. She lamented that no bipartisan bill has been passed since she served in Congress from 2007 to 2009.

“It will never pass because Democrats think it will sound anti-immigrant and Republicans fear it will be an amnesty bill,” Boyda said. “So we really need to come together.”

“I definitely don’t believe in open borders like some libertarians do,” Hauer said.

But he said he needed to take a closer look at the details of the recent failed bipartisan border bill “because that sounds like a lot of money, and I'm definitely not for big budgets.”

Schmidt complained that “securing the southern border and addressing our broken immigration system” is “a political football kicked back and forth.” He indicated that he would prefer Senate Democrats to take up House Republicans' plan rather than retry the failed bipartisan proposal.

“I don’t think it matters whether it’s bipartisan or not,” Schmidt said. “The test is whether it would be effective, whether it actually helps us gain control of the southern border.”

Which president would you have a private dinner with?

A Washburn student asked the three candidates, “If you could host a private dinner with any U.S. president, dead or alive, who would it be, what would you serve him, and what would you want to talk to him about?”

“In the future, I would like to have dinner with the future president and the first woman to become president of the United States,” Boyda said. “I’d like to sit down and have dinner with her.”

She added that she would like to “hear her story” but that “I'm not a chef, so I'm not sure what I would serve.”

“I’m going to vote for Bill Clinton,” Hauer said. “He seemed to like to party, so I think it would be fun.”

He said he would ask about Clinton's home state of Arkansas, adding that he thought the Ozarks were beautiful and would “ask him what it was like to have a balanced budget for the very last time in American history.” They would eat stake.

Schmidt said Dwight D. Eisenhower.

“I would say Ike,” Schmidt said. “I mean, our only president from Kansas. Obviously I never had the chance to meet him. I'd cook him pasta because you can't really screw it up and it's a pretty safe deal. But I would love to talk to him about his journey from Kansas to Supreme Allied Commander, his remarkable perspective on America's role in the world and, of course, how he went on to become president.”

Jason Alatidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.

Derek Schmidt, Nancy Boyda and John Hauer debate before election day

What were the opening statements?

immigration

Which president would you have a private dinner with?

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