Thursday, March 28, 2024 -
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The Kansas kids are all right

And they say young people don’t care about politics anymore.

Not so fast. One Kansan teen more than cares — he’s running for governor. That is, unless the state legislature has something to say about it.

Jack Bergeson of Wichita filed papers to run in the Democratic primary after he discovered that in Kansas, though one must be 18 years of age to vote, a 16-year-old is eligible to run.

Bergeson drafted a classmate to run as his lieutenant governor, and convinced another to run in the Republican contest.

Kansas’ state legislature, meanwhile, moved a bill forward that would bar those under 18 from running. Is that the wisest move when, according to the Kansas City Star, only 13% of Kansans ages 18 to 24 voted? If the candidates are taking their task seriously — and by all accounts they are; Bergman has appeared on national media and has a clear platform — why bar them from participating?

Legislators typically don’t like being told off — by a bunch of know-it-all teenagers, no less.

Then again, sometimes a telling off is just what’s needed.

Copyright © 2018 by the Intermountain Jewish News




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