Armando Hernandez hopes to put ideas into action — and bring forth a spirit of cooperation with all parties — if he’s elected to the Kansas House of Representatives.
The Chanute native is vying for incumbent Kent Thompson’s 9th District House seat.
“What I’d like to see — like with the pandemic, but on every subject — is we need to work together as far as Republicans or Democrats,” Hernandez said. “There’s too much fighting, especially with the taste of what we got from Washington, trying to spill on us in Kansas. We’re better than that. We know that.
“We can work together. We always have. We can accomplish a lot more working together.”
Ninth District Republicans will get to choose between Hernandez and Thompson in the Aug. 4 primary election.
So what motivated Hernandez — who has never held nor run for political office before — to seek a seat in Topeka?
“I’ve always considered doing something as far as politics,” he said. “Everywhere I go, people get to talk, and it ends up they’ll start talking about politics. And with the pandemic going on, I figured this was a good time in my life to do it.”
He confesses to not knowing any differences between his political philosophies and Thompson’s.
“I’ve always known Kent Thompson was our representative for this area,” Hernandez said. “In all reality, I’d heard he wasn’t going to run for re-election. I thought, if somebody was needed, maybe now’s the time for me to go.”
But Thompson — who has held the seat since 2013 — filed in late May.
“I haven’t looked too much on being different than Mr. Thompson,” Hernandez said. “We might have a lot more things in common. The main thing I look forward to is connecting with all the people in our district.”
In his campaign, Hernandez said he’s heard from constituents concerned about education.
“I’d like to see us take care of our teachers,” he said.
Others have spoken on abortion. Hernandez is uncertain whether Kansas law will change anytime soon. “I’m still a big fan of trying to save lives at least, and doing what we can for women who are in need of help.”
Hernandez is a 1988 Chanute High School graduate. He worked as a chiropractor until retiring to take up a career as a computer service technician.
“I’ve been a Republican for 25 years, almost 30 years,” he said. “Somewhere in there, the Republican party turned into something else. I’m not the modern-day Republican. I’m the old Republican.”
