As you know, Kathy Martin is running for the Kansas House of Representatives 64th District seat, which is being vacated by retiring state Representative Vern Swanson. Kathy was formerly the creationist queen of the Kansas State Board of Education and star of the Kansas evolution hearings.
The last time we wrote about her legislative candidacy was Meet Beniah Wilson, Kathy Martin’s Opponent. Now she has a new opponent, which we discovered at the website of radio station KMAN of Manhattan, Kansas. Their headline is Susie Swanson to run in St. Rep. 64th District Race. Here are some excerpts, with bold font added by us:
The wife of a current State Representative from Clay Center has announced her intentions to run for the position he’s vacating. Susie Swanson, whose husband Vern has served as 64th District Representative in the Kansas House for seven years, plans to run in the August Republican primary.
We looked around for her campaign website, but we didn’t find anything. Wikipedia has only a brief article on her husband, Vern Swanson, and we haven’t found anything about his views on evolution, which we assume would be a clue as to those of his wife. As a Kansas Republican, we must assume that he’s as much a flat-Earther as the rest of them, and therefore so is his spouse — although we can’t be certain because there are exceptions. Here’s what the radio station has to tell us:
Swanson is the third Republican candidate vying for the position, with Ben Wilson and Kathy Martin announcing their intentions recently.
“Ben” Wilson is Beniah Wilson, about whom we’ve already written. Let’s read on:
Swanson describes herself as an observer of the political process for many years and especially the past few years. She stresses her belief that people in elected positions should put the people of their district above politics and have the courage to vote for the best interests of their constituents and not be pressured by outside influences.
Whatever that means — which is probably nothing. We continue, and the bracketed words in the next paragraph are in the original:
“I believe we need to sit down and listen [to one another]. There are very bright and insightful people with ideas that aren’t always listened to. I would like to see everybody have an opportunity to share their ideas. That’s how you problem-solve.” Swanson said during an interview with KMAN’s Mikayla Gentine, “You listen to everybody and you take what’s good from each approach. You combine ideas… when you have a very narrow focus about what the solution is and who’s involved, you don’t create a solution.”
In other words, the woman has no platform and no ideas of her own — well, except for this:
She mentions jobs and public education as top priorities if she’s elected, saying an educated work force is crucial for business, and the key to attracting business is good schools.
She’s probably also for motherhood and apple pie. Here’s the rest of it:
Swanson is now retired and working part-time at the Presbyterian Manor as a social work consultant, and worked for the Twin Lakes Educational Cooperative as a social worker for 26 years.
Ah — she’s a social worker! That nicely rounds out the Republican primary for the 64th District. We have: (1) Beniah Wilson, a presumably creationist college senior majoring in music composition; (2) Kathy Martin, flamingly famous creationist; and (3) Susie Swanson, a retired social worker.
The good folks of Kansas are blessed indeed, and so are we, to have such a fascinating campaign to watch. The primary election is scheduled for 05 August, and the suspense is already unbearable!
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