Material change or megaphone photo-ops: Why Rep. Suzanne Wikle is the only choice for the Lawrence left

In the background, a purple-tinted aerial view of Lawrence. In the foreground a picture of Rep. Wikle and “Voters are worried about voting and democracy, prejudice and racism, abortion, the cost of housing, public school quality, and trans legal issues. On every single one of these issues, Rep. Wikle has been a champion for working-class Kansans. But absolutely no one has told us their family's biggest worry is that their representative doesn't talk about Marx enough. Nobody’s said they need a man with a megaphone to “speak for them.” We need leaders who fight on the issues that materially change the lives of working people, and Rep. Wikle is that leader.”

When asked why he rejected an 18% raise, the Democratic Socialist mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani said he hasn't “knocked on anyone's door” and learned “their concern is that the mayor makes too little.” This attitude, of being attuned to the needs of working class people by listening to them, is the essence of our work. We've been knocking doors here in Kansas with volunteers trained by the nonprofit branch of our organization, called Kansas for All.

We take the time to have deep conversations with voters, because we genuinely want to know what’s on their minds. We ask what issues are keeping them up at night and recruit them to join our city-based chapters, which will help lead the charge in 2027 for the schools our kids deserve. 

After knocking on 278 doors so far in Lawrence and Salina, here’s what we learned: Voters are overwhelmingly concerned about voting and democracy (58%). They’re also worried about prejudice and racism (47%), abortion, the cost of housing, public school quality (all 44%), and trans legal issues (42%).

On every single one of those issues, Rep. Suzanne Wikle has been a champion for working class Kansans. But absolutely no one has told us their family's biggest worry is that their representative doesn't talk about Karl Marx enough. Nobody has said they really need a man with a megaphone to “speak for them,” as her opponent says he will. We need leaders who fight on the issues that materially change the lives of working people, and Suzanne is that leader.

Expertise, efficacy, and motherhood

Legislators like Suzanne don’t come around every day. Ferociously intelligent with the heart of a social worker, she’s exactly who we need in a legislature riddled with self-dealing cruelty. She came into the job already one of the country’s top experts on policies that re-distribute wealth and keep kids healthy. She’s so fluent in policy that she can catch and correct legislative evil that few would notice. We’ve both listened to labor leaders thank her for spotting anti-worker provisions that were snuck into House bills.

Just this year, Suzanne saved lives by introducing and passing a bill in collaboration with DCCA to make more naloxone available to first responders.

Suzanne’s also effective when she speaks truth to power. When she steps up to the microphone on the House floor, what follows is a sharp and clear call for the right-wing majority to put the values they claim into practice. And she’s not just a critic; she also offers a vision of what’s possible for poor and working-class people of color, women, and queer and trans folks, immigrants, and everybody else conservatives are harming.

Finally, Suzanne’s identity matters: in a statehouse where two-thirds of legislators are men and the average legislator’s age is 59, her perspective as a working mom of young kids is as rare as it is necessary.

Neither backing his claims nor meeting the moment

In contrast with Suzanne’s unusually high level of excellence, men like TJ Campsey who talk about class struggle but can’t back up their rhetoric are a dime a dozen. They believe they can lead better than the women whose jobs they want, but that belief seems to be built on ego and misogyny rather than skill or experience.

Of course, having professional degrees and government experience shouldn't be litmus tests for holding elected office. Poor and working-class people belong everywhere where decisions are made. But being an organizer is the core claim of TJ’s campaign. He writes that statewide organizing will spontaneously erupt after he introduces the bills on his website. But that is simply not how organizing (or the advancement of Communism!) works. It’s just individualism and saviorism with good graphic design. We do need elected leaders who are excellent organizers, but TJ is clearly no AOC. When it comes to local issue organizing, in fact, he’s nowhere to be found.

According to our allies in relevant Lawrence organizations, TJ has never shown up for sanctuary policy advocacy, ICE defense, tenant rights, or surveillance resistance, to name a few. He and candidates like him are so comfortable as critics, so shallow in their analysis, and so unprepared to win and use power that they mistrust anyone who’s done so.

To justify his campaign against an incumbent with a fantastic record, TJ has invented a version of Suzanne that doesn’t exist in real life, accusing her of capitulating to an unnamed political force-conservatives? Moderate Democrats? The status quo? TJ’s never specified, likely because it’s not true. Ultimately, his attempts to twist Suzanne’s expertise into a sign she’s a secret conservative are as cynical as they are easily disproven. 

To be clear, Sam and I are big fans of challenging incumbents when they’re not listening to their constituents’ demands. But not only are Suzanne’s politics and policy work phenomenal, she’s actually met the moment by expanding her campaign to advocate the right’s Supreme Court power grab constitutional amendment.

In her canvasses, ads, and public writing, she’s urged Lawrencians to vote NO on handing over control of our state Supreme Court justices to billionaire political donors. Suzanne understands that this amendment and the right-wing forces behind it are the greatest threat to working people in Kansas and acts accordingly. In contrast, TJ has spent untold money and volunteer time fighting Democrats instead of the right. 

This race and our collective priorities

The voters Kansas for All talked with this summer aren't losing sleep worrying about progressive state legislators. They’re worried about all the ways the right-wing coalition of white Christian nationalists, the 1%, and fascists are making their daily lives harder. Ending the right’s control of our state government is the most important thing we can do together. Kansas for All Action’s role in the fight is to recruit, train, and deploy working folks to organize for the state we deserve. Legislators like Suzanne who govern well and resist the right are a crucial part of the work. We need to keep Rep. Wikle in office and turn over conservative-held seats to elect more people like her. We don’t need more Revolutionary Ideas Guys(TM) who prefer fighting their allies over making people’s lives better.

Hear us when we say: We can have what we need. Right-wing domination of Kansas politics is not inevitable. We will win when we allocate our resources wisely, work together, and grow our ranks. Let’s re-elect Suzanne, vote “no” on the constitutional amendment, and bring new people into the struggle! You can sign up to join us here.

See you at the ballot box and in the streets. 

About the Authors

Elise Higgins, left, the Kansas for All Action logo, center, and Sam Allison-Natale, right

Our names are Elise Higgins and Sam Allison-Natale, and we’re leaders on the left here in Lawrence. We write this piece in our leadership roles at Kansas for All Action, a new 501c4 organization that’s growing grassroots people power to make Kansas work for working people. Elise is the Executive Director of K4A Action and its sister nonprofit Kansas for All; before that, they worked for abortion rights in Kansas and nationally. Sam is the Board Secretary of K4A Action and an attorney who leads a public defense organization in Douglas County.