Note: The Lawrence Times runs opinion columns and letters to the Times written by community members with varying perspectives on local issues. These pieces do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Times staff.
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As a University of Kansas law professor, a former attorney, and community activist since I moved to Lawrence in 2016, I believe Sen. Marci Francisco will be the most effective legislator to represent Kansas Senate District 2.
If Democrats don’t break the supermajority, or if Gov. Laura Kelly is replaced by an extremist governor in two years, we will need someone with experience and established legislative relationships to make things happen. Marci makes things happen every day in the Kansas Senate. As a junior legislator in the Kansas House, Rep. Christina Haswood lacks any track record of experience and relationships in the Kansas Senate, and I fear no matter her platform, she won’t be able to get things done.
Speaking of platforms, Marci is about as progressive as one can get. Look at Marci’s voting record on health care, climate action, LGBTQ+ equality and reproductive rights — just to name a few issues. There is no “middle of the road” for Marci — Marci fights for her Douglas County constituents on the most important issues. And I love Christina — I really do. But if the votes on key issues would probably be the same, what does Marci bring that Christina lacks?
Trusted legislative relationships. A successful record of bills and amendments. Experience.
Please join me in voting for Marci Francisco for Senate District 2!
— Amii Castle, Lawrence
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More Community Voices:
Letter to the Times: City should create oversight committee to guide pool renovation project, rebuild trust
”Our petition’s 1,764 signatures, our supporters’ 75 letters, and our research into the extensive flaws in the (pool renovation) community engagement process all indicate that the previously proposed plan did not reflect public opinion,” Holly Krebs writes in this letter to the Times.
Shawn Alexander: Say his name – Fred Harvey Smith (Column)
”Racial violence has been omnipresent in American history, and in far too many of the incidents, the perpetrators of the crime are acquitted or not even brought up on charges. When I think of such cases I am often haunted by the heinous murder of Fred Harvey Smith here in the land of John Brown in May 1936,” Shawn Alexander writes in this column.
Letter to the Times: Are veterans’ sacrifices for democracy worthless?
”My father (Navy), mother (Army), and many other family members served our country in World War II. … They gave of themselves, in countless ways, to stop the spread of authoritarianism, suppression of freedoms and tyranny of the many by the few,” Sandy Sanders writes in this letter to the Times.
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