Democrat Henry Johns is running to represent Baldwin City, much of southern Douglas County and parts of Franklin, Johnson and Miami counties that make up House District 5.
Incumbent Republican Carrie Barth did not respond to this questionnaire. We emailed questionnaires to candidates on Oct. 8, gave them until 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19 to respond and sent multiple reminder emails.
Johns shared his views on LGBTQ+ rights, gun safety and more.
We did not give candidates a word count limit but advised them to keep answers concise.
Will this race be on my ballot? Check which legislative districts you’re in at myvoteinfo.voteks.org.
Early voting began Wednesday, Oct. 16. Voters can request a ballot to vote early by mail through Tuesday, Oct. 29 at KSVotes.org. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, which is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
Find out more at lawrencekstimes.com/election2024.
Jump to a topic:
• Meet the candidate
• Experience and qualifications
• Top 3 issues
• Legalizing cannabis
• Expanding Medicaid
• Public funds to private schools
• Local control
• Abortion regulations
• LGBTQ+ rights and transgender kids
• Top concerns heard from voters
• Question for opponent
• Free space
• Just for fun
This district
District 5 is pictured in yellow in this map.
In Douglas County, it includes Baldwin City and parts of Marion, Palmyra and Willow Springs townships.
House District 5 as a whole is almost a Maryland-esque shape that includes parts of Douglas, Franklin, Johnson and Miami counties. It includes Wellsville and parts of the cities of Olathe, Edgerton, Gardner, Spring Hill, Osawatomie and more.
See a map of the full district at this link.
Meet the candidate
Henry Johns
Age: 70
Running as: Democrat
Hometown, and time in Douglas County (or in your current town, for candidates who reside outside of Douglas County)?
Brandon, Fla. I have lived in Douglas Co. 49 years.
Where you currently reside: Lone Star, KS
Day job: Substitute Teacher in Lawrence / Baldwin area. Retired Respiratory Therapist / Polysomnographer.
How voters can reach you: hj4kansas@gmail.com
Website; social media links: HJ4KS.com; Henry Johns for Kansas on Facebook
About you and your positions
A * indicates an answer was required to submit this questionnaire.
Q: What specific experience and qualifications do you possess that make you the best candidate for the seat you’re seeking?*
Listening to people and understanding their problems. With 20 years of management experience, I understand the value of including people in process and understanding their input, as well as an understanding of business, budgets, policy and development of programs.
Q: Please list the top three issues motivating you to run for this office. What concrete ideas do you have to make a difference on each issue if you are elected? Please be as specific as possible.*
Medicaid expansion: Closing the insurance gap for 150+ thousand Kansans. Our money is currently going to California and New York. We have lost $7 billion because of failure to expand Medicaid.
Rights: Women’s right to control their own bodies. Keeping legislators out of the doctor’s exam room, our bedrooms and generally out of our business. Protecting reproductive rights. Introducing legislation to protect women’s rights and reproductive healthcare procedures.
Tax reduction: In general and specifically property taxes.
Q: Would you support legalizing cannabis in Kansas?*
Options given: Yes, for any use (medicinal, recreational, etc.); Yes, for medicinal use; No
Yes, for any use (medicinal, recreational, etc.)
Q: Would you support expansion of Medicaid in Kansas?*
(Only yes/no options given)
Yes
Q: Would you support initiatives to spend more public money on private schools, such as through vouchers, charter schools, tax credits and so forth?*
(Only yes/no options given)
No
Q: Please elaborate on any of your answers to the yes/no questions above if you’d like to.
Kansas has been missing a tax revenue source in recreational cabanas, that is currently enjoyed by most sounding states.
Public dollars are for public schools. Private schools are for the most part unregulated and unaccountable to the state. Private business is just that.
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Q: Please share your views on local control. Do you believe the Legislature should seek to enact state laws that affect municipalities’ ability to self-govern? If so, in what circumstances? If not, how will you stand up for local control?*
Context given to candidates: The Lawrence City Commission in 2022 stripped some protections of immigrants from local ordinances in response to changes in state laws.
The city in 2023 passed a safe haven ordinance to create additional protections for transgender people in response to anti-trans legislation (SB 180 in particular).
The city also approved a ban on single-use plastic bags, which legislators attempted to nullify with a new law that was vetoed this year.
The legislature should not interfere with home rule. We elect county and city governments to enact the rules we live by locally. I feel that cities are free to enact ordinances that are supported by the members of that community.
Q: Kansas voters in August 2022 soundly rejected a constitutional amendment that would have opened the door to extreme restrictions on abortion. Still, the Legislature has passed or attempted to pass more laws regulating abortion. Please share your stance on what actions the Legislature should or should not take regarding abortion.*
The current legislature has failed to listen to the majority of Kansans. Politicians have no place in a doctor’s exam room and no business in reproductive decisions.
Q: In recent years, the Legislature has increasingly passed or attempted to pass legislation that could have potential negative outcomes for LGBTQ+ people. Please explain your stance on the rights of LGBTQ+ people — particularly transgender kids — and what the Legislature’s role in their lives and health care should be.*
I know several LGBTQ+ people, many of them hold special places in my heart and I would fight to keep them safe. Politicians should never tell us who to love or how to live and they should never be allowed to define us. The legislature has no role in determining what the lives or health care of anyone should be.
Optional questions
Q: What would you say is the top concern you’ve heard from voters as you’ve been campaigning, and what actions would you take to better that problem?
Taxes have been a top concern. In the past term the Republican majority in the legislature refused to fund the Local Ad Valorem Tax Reduction Fund and later removed it from the statutes. That fund had, since 1937, helped keep taxes down by returning state tax money to the counties to pay for services. When funding was stopped, our counties were forced to increase mill levies, to have the funds to pay for essential services.
The LAVTRF should be reinstated and funded along with reducing the percentage of appraised value taxed and exempting the first $100,000 of a home’s value.
Q: Please share a question we didn’t ask that you’d like your fellow candidates to answer. How would you respond?
Q: Do you feel firearms safety measures should be put in place in Kansas?
Yes, as a life member of the NRA, a shooter and gun owner, I believe safety, training and safe storage are important parts of firearm ownership. We don’t allow people to operate motor vehicles without proof of proficiency in driving and knowing the rules of the road, and we issue a license as proof of that proficiency. Why would we allow someone to purchase or carry a firearm, without any proof of training and proficiency.
Q: Free space: Please share anything you’d like voters to know about you and your stances that we haven’t asked here.
I am ready to go to work on day one to try and improve the lives of people in the district. There is a lot to learn, the district is large and diverse, but I am willing to take the time to listen and understand what people want and need.
Just for fun
Candidates were not required to answer any of these questions, but we wanted to give our readers a chance to get to know them a little better and have some fun with this.
Favorite color? Blue
Zodiac sign? Taurus
Do you have any pets, and/or what’s your favorite animal? I am servant to a cat. But I also love horses and dogs.
What’s a fun fact our readers may not know about you? (Have a hidden talent? Interesting hobby?) In December, I work for Santa Claus.
Favorite book, TV show and/or movie? Book: “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”; TV: “Longmire”; Movie: “Twelve O’Clock High”
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