In June, something extraordinary happened in Wichita. About 1,500 Kansans packed a town hall at Wichita State University to engage in a once regular but now rare political conversation — one that was open to the public, unscripted, respectful, and deeply rooted in the urgent questions facing our state and nation.
The event wasn’t hosted by one of our own elected officials. It was organized by Leading Kansas, a nonpartisan civic engagement organization that I help lead, and featured U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida. These out-of-state Democratic lawmakers showed up to listen, to answer questions, and to model what accountability looks like.
The response from Kansans was overwhelming. The hunger for real dialogue was palpable. And yet, even with 1,500 of their own constituents gathered in one place, demanding answers, our Kansas federal delegation has yet to respond. Not a single one of our members of Congress commented on the event.
That silence is telling.
It has now been months — seven years in the case of Rep. Ron Estes — since our Republican federal lawmakers have held an open, public town hall with everyday Kansans. To my knowledge, none of them have public appearances scheduled during the August congressional recess that don’t charge an entrance fee, despite the tradition of lawmakers using this time to meet with their constituents face to face.
When we call their offices, we are told, “I’ll pass along your concerns.” But those concerns vanish into a void. There is no forum for follow-up, no venue to press for answers, no real conversation. Just boilerplate emails sent weeks — sometimes months — late, spouting the party line but offering little by way of facts or specifics.
This isn’t just a matter of disagreeing on the issues or politics as usual. It’s about the health of our democracy.
The only goal that seems to be consistently pursued by our current Republican delegation is that which ensures that Kansans don’t talk to one another about the perilous state of our democracy. If they can shut down civic engagement, they can avoid governing entirely — still collecting a paycheck while evading difficult questions.
The late Democratic U.S. Rep. John Lewis once said: “Democracy is not a state. It is an act.”
That means democracy depends on participation, transparency, and accountability, not secrecy and silence. It means our leaders have an obligation to face their constituents, even when it’s uncomfortable.
In Kansas, we pride ourselves on straight talk and honest dealing. Our representatives should be willing to look us in the eye and explain their votes, their priorities, and their vision for our state’s future. When they refuse to do so, they aren’t just dodging difficult conversations, they are eroding the foundation of representative government.
At Leading Kansas, we’ve decided that waiting around for our lawmakers to find their courage is a waste of precious time. That’s why we’ve launched the “Coffee & Kansas Voices” tour — a series of Saturday conversations across the 1st Congressional District during the August recess.
We’ve invited Republican Rep. Tracey Mann to join us. We’ve offered to host him at a public forum of his choosing, at a date and location that works for him. So far, we’ve heard nothing.
So, we’ve started without him. We’ve met with folks in Salina, Garden City, and Hays, and we’re headed to Manhattan next. We buy the coffee and you bring your voice. We’re meeting people where they are, with a commitment to pass along any concerns we hear directly to the representative himself.
To that end, we offer the following summary of what we’ve heard thus far:
• Economic strain from federal policies: Tariffs, the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and the end of the Food for Peace Program are hurting Kansas businesses and farmers.
• Rising costs and inflation: Families and small businesses alike are feeling the pressure, with sharp price increases and declining sales.
