Election '24: KS 2nd Congressional District Democratic Primary Forum
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Democratic candidates running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Kansas District 2.
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Good evening and welcome to the KTWU Studio on the campus of Washburn University.

I'm Val VanDerSluis general manager for KTWU, and Im Bill Fiander lecturer of political science for Washburn University.

KTWU and the Washburn University political science department are proud to bring this evening's primary debate forum to you.

It's our mission at KTW to be a resource for education, knowledge and insight an provide you with the resources you need to exercise your rights as an informed voter.

The Washburn University Political Science Department has a long tradition of providing real world experience in the study of governments, public policies, and political behavior, using both humanistic and scientific perspectives an skills to examine the countries and regions of the world.

We take great pride in providing a neutral ground for open discussion on politics and policies, and conducting public issues forums like this one.

Now please stay tune as we bring you the candidates running in the Democratic primary for the second Congressional District of Kansas.

Hello, I'm Bob Beatty.

The Kansas second district is spread out nort to south and eastern Kansas, and looks much like a jigsaw puzzle piece with the bottom including Coffeyville, Pittsburg and Iola.

The middle, Emporia, Junction City and Topeka.

A jab into Kansas City, Kansas.

And the top featuring Leavenworth, Atchison and Seneca.

Republican Jake LaTurner is the current incumbent, but in April, he surprised everyone and announced he wasn't running for reelection.

Over the next hour, we'll be hearing from the two Democrats Nancy Boyda and Matt Kleinmann, who are vying for the Democratic nomination and the opportunity to take on the Republican that emerges from the GOP primary on August 6th.

This forum is a partnership with the political science department at Washburn University, and they have selected the topics, but will also be taking questions from you on Facebook.

So please send those questions in.

Now, candidates, by the rules of this forum, you've each been given 90 seconds for your opening statement.

And we start with Matt Kleinmann Thank you.

Bob.

Good evening everyone.

My name is Matt Kleinmann.

And it's been an honor to be here tonight.

I'm not a career politician.

I'm a dedicated public servant.

After playing basketball at KU and studying architecture, I originally thought my path would lead me to design stadiums.

However, I soon realized that our communities needed more than a building.

We needed access to health care, good paying jobs, investment in our youth, and affordable housing and child care.

And for the past decade, I've worked every day with working families to secure the resources we need.

I've led teams to build mobile grocery stores, rebuild parks and sidewalks, drafted transportation and health care policy, and built real improvements for working families.

But right now, we're not getting that help in our district or being left behind.

We have politicians who care more about getting on cable news than championing the kitchen table issues that our campaign focused on.

This simple truth is that we cannot property tax our way to prosperity.

We need more federal investment to thrive.

My group, my boots on the ground experience makes me the best candidat to flip this district this fall.

A district that voted no on the abortion amendment two years ago tonight by 35,000 votes.

I'm the only candidate in this race to have earned the bipartisan endorsement of the Kansas City Star.

The mainstream coalition and Moms Demand Action.

I know what it mean to be a part of a winning team.

It's not about the individual.

It's about committing to improving everyone else around you.

Our campaign is uniting everyone in this district around a new visio for a stronger, better Kansas.

So thank you to KTWU an Washburn for hosting us tonight.

And I look forward to the discussion.

Thank you.

Thanks, Nancy Boyda.

Okay.

Hello, everyone.

Former Congresswoman Nancy Boyda here.

I'm the one who did the impossible and beat Jim Ryun, the Olympic track celebrity.

Why did I win?

Because I am a strong independent, moderate Democrat who independents and moderates voted for.

Tonigh you'll hear from the two of us.

Matt's younger, taller, a better athlete, a better speaker and a better Democrat than I am.

In fact, he is a good Democrat.

There's just one problem.

Only 26% of the district are Democrats.

That means that 74% aren't.

And since Slattery stepped aside in 94.

I'm the only Democrat to win the seat.

That's 30 years.

Paul Davis, a good Democrat, spent over $10 million campaigning.

Even he didn't win.

The closest anyone else has come is 15 points.

And they were all good Democrats and like Matt all really smart and really likable people.

I have been running a general election since I filed on June 3rd.

My message has been consistent.

I am a strong, independent, moderate Democrat who will work across party lines for solutions.

That's who I am.

And that's why I can win.

I am runnin because our country is in peril.

If we don't win this election, there literally may not be another one.

If you're as concerned as I am, I'm former Congresswoman Nancy Boyda.

And if you actually want a Democrat to win this year, you're going to need to vote for me.

All right.

Thank you both so much for coming here.

Both declared candidates from the Democratic Party at this forum, and we're going to cove lots of issues, which is great.

But a couple that are on is the Democratic primary.

So they're on Democrats minds first.

And we're going to start with Matt Kleinmannm, and then we'll alternate throughout the forum.

We'll have a minute,, thirty.

F did you want President Biden to step down and when he did, did you want Vice President Kamala Harris as the presidential nominee?

Well I think everybody in our country appreciates the service that Joe Biden, Presiden Biden, has given to our country.

He's been there for decades, and he has been a leader across our nation.

I think, when he decided to step back, we owe a debt of gratitude for his service.

But we also saw how he transition to the next generation.

I can't be more proud as a Democrat to see how he positioned us to have a winning ticket this fall.

And so I endorsed Kamala Harris as the DNC delegates from the state of Kansas did, because I believe that Kamala Harris is the best chance we have to win this election.

Now, I know my opponent, came out quickly with a statement that, President Biden should hav stepped back after the debate.

And I think that there's, mor than just a knee jerk reaction.

I think we need to have, a strength and operate from a place of strategy as opposed to just weakness.

And what President Biden did was he let the RNC run a series of ads and attacks, and they went after him in their RNC convention, and they called him the oldest candidate.

And all these things.

All of those attacks now apply to Donald Trump.

And the move he made to strategically step back when he did was the right decision for our country.

It's the right decision for Kansas.

And I think that the service he has performed we owe him a debt of gratitude.

But I believe Kamala Harris is the next president of the United States because she is building a unifying ticket.

And young people, people from across our country are getting excited behind her.

And we've seen that with her record fundraising.

Nancy Boyda.

So thank you for that question.

So when, when I I was coming back from Parsons the night of the of the debate and I was tired and I turned on the radio and within about five minutes I turned it off because it was just too difficult to listen to.

I got up the next morning at 6:3 and watched the debate, and without a lot of consultation with anybody, I knew that I had to put out a press release that said, it began with the word with a heart full of compassion, and it was two pages of all the wonderful things the President Biden had done for our for our country.

Where would we be?

We've got CHIPS.

We have.

We can now negotiate finally for Medicare, for for prescription drugs.

So many, so many things.

Infrastructure bill that, that have made this country so much better and so much stronger.

And I put out a press release that said, with all due respect, it is time.

If you love this country as much as we think you do that it's time for you to step aside.

I, in fact, was way ahead of everyone, and I have said I would do i again, that I was not willing.

As I said, if we don't win this election, people if we don't win this election, there may not be another one.

I was not willing to take that risk.

And I did speak up.

I am thrilled, beyond thrilled with Kamala Harris, as our as our nominee.

And I look forward to serving with President Harris.

Thank you.

Both of you, alluded to this a bit in your opening statements, Nancy, maybe a little bit more, but let's dive into it.

So the second district, it really does look like a jigsaw puzzle piece, classic American, carving out a district.

but the second district, it's changed quite a bit.

since Nancy Boyda won in 2006, most notably, Lawrence is gone.

I can't imagine why anybody would do that.

But Lawrence is gone, and they're just they're more Republican voters as a percentage.

So many Democrats, in this primary are going to be interested.

Okay.

maybe we like you both or whatever but can you win in the general?

So can you please explain how you have to give awa all your plans and strategies, but how you might approach a general election against a Republican And we start with Nancy Boyda.

Thank you for that question.

So I started running the general election for my campaign the day that I filed.

We cannot possibly wait until the seventh of August to start a general campaign.

So I believe that Matt, there's a few things that he doesn't understand about things.

I've heard you say tha the governor won this district.

well, of course, we've had so many Republican or Democratic governors over the years, Matt.

So many.

But we haven't had a Democrat in the U.S. Senate since the Great Depression.

Because federal, national politics and state and local politics, there are two very, very, very different things.

And quite honestly, a lot of the second district is not going to trust a Democrat going to Washington, DC.

So, yes, this this, this district won by 35,000 votes in the vote no.

35,000 votes.

Three months later, a very good Democrat, a very pro-choice Democrat.

Patrick Schmidt, who had raised $1.2 million.

He lost by 36,000 votes three months later.

So this whole idea about what who a who the second district is very conservative and who they will vote for in a general election.

they want somebody who is moderate and they want to make sure that you are moderate and they are independent, an that's what they're looking for.

And that's wh I've been for the last 20 years.

Matt.

Well, I appreciate this question.

I think being a moderat is more than just being so far in the middle of the road that you could cross it being a moderate means standing on your principles.

And I'm running as a Democrat because this is a Democratic primary.

I believe that Democrats deserve to have a voice.

Some of the bravest peopl I know in Kansas are Democrats in a very red district.

because they're fighting for Kansas values, and that's the values that I wanted to fit in Congress.

Now, I know, Nancy's belief is that she's going to win more Republicans.

But I can tell you, we were at a bipartisan Iola forum.

And as we got done and, you know, I talked about affordable housing.

And Nancy didn't answer the question first.

I answered the question first, because that's what I care about.

And as we came down off the stage, a gentleman walked up to me and said, young man, are you a Democrat?

And I said, yes.

And he goes, well, shoot.

I got to change my registration to vote for you.

And when we were in a bipartisan forum and Basler, I spoke clearly about the dangers that project 2025 represents to our country.

I talked about how it's a tax increase on the middle class.

And as I came down, I had folks, shaking my hand.

I had, the surrogate for Derek Schmidt asked me for a yard sign, and he said, Matt, you've won the Republicans in this room over.

And I left something there that night, and I came bac to the person who collected it, and she invited me into her living room.

And she was a lifelong Republican.

Her and her husband had checked out after the Biden debate.

They're lifelong Republicans, but they are Republicans to moderate the Republican Party because they hate the extremism, the extremism that Derek Schmidt and the rest of Republicans represent.

They want good common sense.

So I'm not running to be the best moderate.

I'm running to be the best candidate for you.

I'm going to do a quick follow up.

So you have a minute, to answer and then we'll be done with this topic.

But, I've studied, this district in politics for a long time.

And, the second district is sort of notorious for when a Democrat does run successfully or not.

The negative ads onslaught against them is, something to be believed.

Paul Davis and the strip club is just but one example.

Michelle de la Esla and and other things.

So just a quick question.

We start with, Matt.

If you were to win, are you are you ready for what will come?

Because it will come, whether it's from the national Republicans or from the candidate.

And that's American politics.

But are you ready for that?

You know, if I'm answering truthfully, probably not.

I'm probably not ready for it.

I don't think politics should be about who hurts the other person the most.

I think politics should be about joy.

It should be about building up our communities.

And of course, I don't want to have these attacks.

I don't think Nancy does either, but it's not about us.

It's about our communities.

It's about standing in that gap and saying, I will take those hits, because I believe that working families deserve a raise.

I believe our communities deserve better.

And so, yes, I'm happy to be the punching bag for the Republican Party.

If they think, going after a KU basketball player who's born and raised in Kansas is the right way for them to represent this district, if that's what they want to do, by all means, bring it.

But more than that, I care about our families and I don't think anybody can, critique or disparage or paint with a broad brush somebody who deeply cares about their community.

I am proud to be a Democrat in this race.

I am proud to be a Kansan.

And I'm not going to run away from the Democratic Party just because it's going to get tough.

Nancy.

Well, it is a buzzsaw.

I mean, Bob, it is an absolute buzzsaw.

And Sharice Davids and I are the only ones who have come through the buzzsaw and come out of it alive.

So there are a couple of things that have to be done.

So if you win the the general or the primary, here's you have to be the one to be on offense.

So since I started running this campaign on on June 3rd, I have put I have done everything I ca to put Derek Schmidt on offense.

What I see Democrats do over and over is they allow them to be allowed to to put us on defense.

So the number one thing is to to be put on to you start that defense.

I mean, you start on offense.

I'm sorry.

The other thing is that you have to be out with a very clear message of who you are.

So yes I've gotten a lot of headlines that say, I'm not a good Democrat, and I'm sorr that I'm not the best Democrat.

I am the best Kansan for this job.

And I have been making sure that I define who I am and not let them define who I am.

All right.

Thank you.

We'll get into some, issues.

right off the bat there's been some good and bad news on the economic front.

Unemployment is not as good as.

It's not as low as it was, but it's still pretty low.

Inflation.

Peopl dont like the high prices, but, it seems to be tempered a little bit.

Interest rates still, all these sort of things.

So we'll just go to you.

You're the ones running, expand o what you would do in Congress, to help Americans get by in the current economy and what sort of economic ideas you might address.

Start with Nancy.

So inflation and all the ta cuts, all of that goes together.

So these the Trum tax cuts were so inflationary.

And they gave all of these huge benefits to the very wealthy and to corporate America.

Corporate America's taxes are the lowest that they've been in 80 years.

And Derek Schmidt wants to take them another 20% lower than they are today.

It's just like the Brownback tax cuts, just like it throw the deficit way out of kilter.

And then that all that deficit spending becomes inflationary while just a meager portion of those tax cuts go to the to the working families and in the United States.

So we have to when it comes to inflation, we need to we need to we need to pull back.

I'm sorry.

We need to pull back on all of these tax cuts to keep inflation down.

We absolutely need to look at the greed that is coming out of corporate America.

So all of the price increases that we understood why they came in Covid, they did not come here.

And yet we're giving these corporate people these huge tax cuts.

We need to do something about that.

And to be honest, there's a third thing.

And it jus it just lost my it's not there.

So if you can help me, I'd appreciate it.

I've got a good teammate here.

There was a third poin that I was going to make there.

And to be honest, it's not there.

Now is the time to get back at the economy.

Happy to help.

yeah.

So first off, I agree with Nancy.

The Trump tax cuts kill the middle class and then they're tryin to balance that on project 2025.

They want to pass they want to get rid of our tax brackets and project 2025 written by Trump administration officials and narrow it to a 15% tax minimum bracket.

Get written all of it's getting rid of all the deductions.

So if you're a family of four right now and you're making less than $168,000 a year, project 2025 is going to increase your annual tax rate, to pay an extra $6,600 a year in federal income tax.

That's not right.

And when we look a what actually caused inflation, it was a global supply chain crunch.

We had, not enough goods being mad because Covid rocked everybody.

And at the same time, we were, giving more money back to our citizens.

I, I've been on the bipartisan forum with Republicans who will blame illegal immigration is the number one thing that's causing that.

They don't want to talk about the truth that everybody received the Trump stimulus check and put that in the back.

So we had more disposable income, but we didn't have enough supply.

What we need to do to get our country back on track is to invest.

We need to be building up our communities.

We need to be investing in education.

We need to be investing in our infrastructure, green jobs.

We need to be investing in our communities so that we have supply side economics.

We can build what we need that our communities demand.

And I give a lot of credit to Governor Kelly, because the Panasonic plant that's going to be, creating new jobs in DeSoto is an opportunity for our country, our state, to show what it looks lik when we invest in our economy.

That's what we need to be doin more of to keep inflation low, but also to keep our supply chain strong.

Okay.

So this is a follow up.

So a minute, Donald Trump instituted a quite a bit of, tariffs on imports.

But that was but president there you go I knew it.

the president Joe Biden has actually kept a lot of those, tariffs.

So I guess they're bipartisan, tariffs.

some skeptics Cato Institute and some other, think tanks actually say those these actually do not help the economy, but mayb that's not the intent of them.

So quick question, is would you support continuing those tariffs, increasing or decreasing them that have been in place for several years now?

So some of the tariffs and I've said that a lot of these tariffs are have taken the Dollar Tree to the dollar and a quarter tree.

And if they keep on going it' going to go to the buck 50 tree.

So tariffs are massively inflationary I think since some targeted tariffs in specific technological areas would be advisable.

But they need to be extremely targeted and they need to understand what they're doing to middle class families.

Every time we put it, every every reaction has an opposite reaction.

Every action has an opposite, an equal reaction.

And every tariff that we put on there does come back onto our onto our working families.

So I would be extremely targeted with those tariffs .

So I'm not an economist.

Right?

But I listen to the experts.

And when I listen to farmers, they're talking about how they're terrified that if tariffs keep rising I know Trump's most recent tax plan is to gut income tax an increase tariffs exponentially.

We're going to lose our farming industry in our district.

And farmers know that, that's why they're talking about it.

With me as a Democrat.

They're telling me, Matt, we are terrified of an increase in tariffs.

At the same time, we need to make sure that we'r protecting our local industry.

So there's a balanced approach.

I think we can pull back on some of our tariffs.

I also think you made the point earlier.

We need to target tax cuts not just for the wealthy, not just for the rich.

We know what trickle dow economics looks like in Kansas.

We know what the Brownbac administration did to our state.

They devastated us economically.

And so we need to be focusing tax cuts on middle and lower class, lower income families.

We need to make sure that we're helping working families get by, and that puts more money back into our economy.

But from a tariffs perspective, I think we need pull back a little bit more.

Ok, let's move on to health care in America.

we start with Matt.

What specific policies and plans would you champion in Congress to help Americans deal with rising health care costs and health care availability?

So there's two parts to this answer.

first off, I believe that health care is a human right.

I have talked to so many working families that are struggling.

They're being crushed by medical debt.

There are families with children with cancer in our distric who are really in a place where we should be the richest country in the world, and families have to work 2 to 3 jobs just to make ends meet, to pay their medical bills.

I do believe in a Medicare for all solution.

I think if we have a single payer system that helps everybody now, the ACA or what used to be called Romneycare, right, was an opportunity to to get more people on health insurance.

And that did a number tha that helped millions of people.

and I think Kansas obviously needs to expand Medicaid.

I don't understand how you can claim to be a Christian and love thy neighbor, but let the sick suffer.

There is more that we can d in our state and in our country to make sure that folks have access to health care.

But in the specifics, there are certain things where we we need to understand.

W don't have a health care system.

We have a sick care system.

We have a system where corporations profit on you getting sick and not getting the coverage you need.

We need to be better regulating our PBMs.

I was down in, Columbus yesterday and a pharmacy, owner told me that he is terrified, just like the farmers, that if we don't get PBMs under control, these these the middlemen in our insurance industry and the prescription drugs that they're goin to lose their entire businesses, and that's going to hurt our small towns in Kansas.

So we need more transparency.

We also need better regulation.

And we need to make sur that people are getting the care they need as a principal.

Nancy, health care?

So this would be some place that Matt and I differ.

and I would say that Medicare for all it sounds it really sounds good.

it's not going to go over i the second district of Kansas.

And do I believe that health care is a right?

Does my heart break for for all of these stories?

Absolutely.

And yet, I don't believe that we're going to be able to get Medicare for all to ever go in Kansas.

That will be seen as just too extreme.

So what do we need to do?

Well, the ACA, all the subsidies that went into the ACA for Covid, those need to be extended.

That's first and foremost.

And then we absolutely need to make sure that our federally qualified health care centers, that they are fully funded they are providing a safety net fund or safety that health care for so many of our families.

is it the best they are doing the very best that they can, and we need to make sure that they are fully funded.

So you must have been down with Brian Caswell.

I was the sweetheart of the of the community pharmacists Associatio when I was in Congress earlier and 18 years ago.

We were trying to figure out with PBMs, if you people at home don't know PBMs, they are the middlemen that take huge amounts o profit, huge amounts of profit, jacked up the price of of prescription drugs.

And we have to find a way to get to them.

Finally, in Congress, enough people are on board trying to say that the PBM that are really jacking up the the price of our prescription drugs.

And I am so with you on that.

We would I'm right there with you on that, Matt.

It's got to change.

I was going to save this to see if it came in from the Facebook, but what the heck.

It's a it' a we'll call it a follow up.

And Matt, you mentioned this and I guess the question i it's about Medicaid expansion.

Kansas is one of ten states that has not, done it.

But on the other hand, Kansas has come really close.

If you study Kansas politics in the legislature and actually sort of shockingly close to doing it.

So I it's my question.

You don't have to answer it specifically.

But really wha I'm approaching is why is Kansas the outlier in the United States?

There's only nine other states.

And Dayton digs in and refuses to expand Medicaid after all these years of it happening.

And we'll start with Nancy Boyda So Derek Schmidt, who one of u is going to be running against, probably Derek Schmidt, has dug in his heels and said, we are not going to expand Medicaid.

It just I agree with what you're saying again, Matt, how do you call yourself a Christia and take the most basic right.

And every other state is doing it's economically is going to pay for itself How could they still not do it?

So this is what I'm trying to say.

A state that hasn't hasn't expanded Medicaid is going to go for Medicare for all.

It's just it's a long shot that will never happen.

It sounds good and it makes a passionate, passionate statement, but it ain't ever going to go.

We're one of the ten who still dig in our heels and not even expand Medicaid.

Expand Medicaid.

So we need to be much more realistic when we're talking with people and not.

I would never use the language in Kansas “Medicaid for all it's it's a hot button.

And I would find other language.

Matt.

Well, as Nancy knows, the state legislature is different than the federal government.

And if Medicare for all comes up at a federal level, I would vote for it because I believe that Kansas families deserve to have health care.

Simple as that You deserve to have health care.

Despite wha people might tell you in Topeka, we deserve to have health care.

Your family does.

Your parents do, you grandparents do your children.

Do your cousins and uncles, your your pastor?

They deserve to have health care.

And it shouldn't be this hard.

But we know why.

It is a bipartisan consensus.

Both parties not politicians, but voters, agree that Medicaid should be expanded.

What we have is a leadership that lacks the strengt to do what's right for Kansans.

We have elected official in the House and Senate majority who are beholden to big money interests.

They're beholden to corporations and dark money think tanks who their only job is to milk us as taxpayers for more money.

They do not wan to put that back into our lives.

They do not want to put that back into our families.

And I think we need to have health care expansion across the board.

Okay.

So of course, you both know that, members of Congress deal with foreign policy.

And, so we have two wars going on at the moment with allies of America.

So we're going to do two questions.

So you don't feel like you have to throw both in.

So the first one is obviously Israel.

Where do you stand on America's support for Israel and the Israel Hamas war?

Start with Matt.

I think it's important that everybody recognize, October 7th was a tragedy.

nobody is going to stand here and say that women and children should be brutally murdered.

what Hamas did was a attack on Israeli sovereignty.

At the same time, what we have seen since then is also a tragedy.

We have seen communities bombed.

We've seen, a whole displacement of an entire region.

And I think that as a member of Congress, we need to recognize that there is a time and place for security, and there's also a time and a place for proportional response.

And having the ability to say, we can hold both things in our hands.

We can both have compassion and love for a part of the world that' been struggling for a long time.

But we also have a role to play as a nations leader.

We also have a role to pla as somebody who can demand peace and stability.

I'd like to see, the agreement that has been put out there by the you know, United States and President Biden's administratio for a ceasefire to take effect.

I think we need to have a ceasefire.

And I think we also need to allow for the Israeli citizens to have peace and stability so that they're not constantly under threat.

But I think whoever is elected in Congress in November, they're going to inherit a whole new situation come January.

And I think that also includes we need to have folks have the right to return to have peaceful, free democratic elections.

And that includes the Palestinian people as well as the Israeli people.

And it is a complicated situation.

I think the rise of anti-Semitism is abhorrent.

I think we need to make sure that we're very careful in how we moderate our opinions and our passions, but we need to be looking for peace and prosperity for everyone.

Nancy, Israel.

For the last, what, 60, 70 year we've had a two state solution.

The whole world has said there' a two state solution out here, but we have two sides that have extremist leaders right now.

And both sides have completely dug in their heels and said, we don't even want the other side, doesn't even have the right to exist.

So when we look at the world today, every country has some power, some pressure that they can put on one side or the other.

And I'm just saying, for crying out loud, why are we talking about we need to be putting on a pressure on both sides for a two state solution.

If we don't do that they are literally threatening.

And now what's going on in the Golan Heights?

They're literally threatening the safety and security of my family, of your family.

And why are we just say the Arab states, everybody get together.

You put all the pressure that you need, come to the table, darn it.

What I'm thinking the America we need to come to the table.

The West needs to come to the table and put every available pressure that we can and say, this only thing is a two state solution.

So I don't want to I don't want to compare this to anything becaus it's of such grave consequence.

But when I say solutions are in the center, this is exactly what happens when both sides dig in and no one will move off of off of square one.

They are literally threatening the safety and security of the entire planet, and it needs to stop.

The other US ally fighting for its, for its life right now is Ukraine.

And so talk about, where you stand on America's support for Ukraine and going forward, whether that should continue or not.

And you start plans.

So I am out and about quite a bit.

You've heard it said, I' the only Democrat in my family.

I live in a very rural area so I hear all kinds of things.

And part of the reason that I'm running today is when I start hearing good Kansans talk to me about tearing down NATO.

I'm like, what are you talking about?

That has been the strategic alliance that has kept the post-World War Two order, that has kept our country safe, virtually no war Kosovo for, but virtually no war because we have NATO.

And I hear good people saying that they're deadbeats and just giving all of the power, everything to Vladimir Putin, to Kim Jong un, to to China.

This doesn't make any sense.

So we need to keep our Western alliance safe.

Russia has been in empire building mode for since, since since 1991.

You had what was the first Belarus, then parts of Georgia, then Crimea and now Ukraine.

And if we don't think that this is going, if we think this is going to stop and Vladimir Putin is going to just decid to stop expansion, we're nuts.

We absolutely need for our best interest, not to mention the humanitarian crisis that's going on in Ukraine, but for our best interest, we need to to keep the Western alliance strong.

Matt.

So Nancy and I agree on this issue.

but I want to take a different tact in answering this question.

So I listened to your forum last night, and I find it interesting that candidates on the Republican side o the aisle want us to surrender.

They want us to give up.

They want us to look at our allies in Europe in the face of an invading hostile force, and give up.

I don't think that's what our country is about.

I don't think that our country went to World War Two because we were willing to let our surrenders, our let our allies just giv up, give, give territory away.

Our national security depend on global peace and stability.

We talked about inflation earlier.

Part of the issue with inflation was the supply chain that was rocked when Russia invaded Ukraine.

And so we have to have an honest conversation.

And I'll tell you, just this week, President Biden successfully negotiated a hostage transfer.

I don't understand how Republican candidates in Kansas can consider Russia.

And as somebody who is worthy of the respect, it's led by a dictator with with global ambition and that comes at our expense.

Now, I hear Kansans every day.

You say, let's bring that money back home.

But I'm going to tell you right now, if we allow Russia to go unchecked and continue to invade our NATO allies, it's going to get a lot more costly in more ways than one.

Amen, brother.

This has already been mentioned, I believe, a couple times.

But, in 2022, the second Congressional District voted no on the Kansas abortio amendment by a 17 point margin.

So just that's the context of this question.

What are your views on the abortion issue?

And we start with Matt, this time.

So Nancy mentione earlier that folks who came out on August 2nd, 2022 didn't come back out in November.

I'm going to spea to the young people in the room.

Since 2016, you've had a country led by Donald Trump.

And then again, and we had recession.

The last eight years have been a little chaotic.

There are a lot of weird politicians who want to be in your bedroom telling you who you can love, who you can be with, how you can raise kids.

They're not going to stop at abortion, which is a medical procedure.

There are families who are struggling with infertility and there are also families who are struggling with, pregnancies that don't go the way they're planned.

I don't think as a Christian, we should allow women to go into sepsis in the parking lot of a hospital to receive the basic health care that they need.

I think we're fighting a real battle to make sure that reproductive rights are protected.

But it's not just abortion.

It's also IVF.

It's also contraception.

It's also your right to choose what's right for your body.

And so I'm talking to young people.

Turn out to vote.

Turn out to vote on August 6th.

Turn out to vote in November 5th, turn out to vote for the rest of your lives because we know those weird politicians are not going to stop.

They want to control your life, and they want to have big government that is so smal it fits in your medical office.

We need to make sure that we are taking care of our women and taking care of the reproductive rights of our entire country.

Nancy.

So once again, Mat and I agree on so much of this, and I really I appreciate all the things that you said, Matt.

So I am a woman.

and the idea that the federal government is going to take away my ability to make decisions for me and my bodily autonomy take away, is decisions for my family about how we conceive, about what happens if something goes wrong in a pregnancy.

It is shocking to me.

So I say, I agree with you on on everything that you said and I will pivot as you did earlier and talk about what the Republicans and what Derek Schmidt yes you need to come out and vote.

You need to come out and vote.

Derek Schmidt will vote fo every every bill that takes away the woman's right to make her own personal and private, such important decisions in her life.

Dere Schmidt will vote for every one.

Regardless of what we did with our Constitution, he will not listen to the good people of the second District of Kansas.

He will do what he believes his party wants him to do.

He is 100% endorsed by the pro-life movement because he does everything that they tell him to do.

And that's why you need to get out and vote.

Young, old and all of you.

If we don't get a Democrat elected this time, we are going to pay for it for the rest of our lives.

All right.

The topic is the border.

Illegal border crossings are up markedly over the past few years.

Yet Congress has done very little.

They attempted a bipartisan bill and it went in the end, got scuttled.

what do you support in terms of a border bill, that maybe this is the key point that could actually be passed by Congress?

Because from both sides, we hear what they want to do with the border, but it does have to get through Congress and the president has to sign it.

And that hasn't been able to happen.

So what do you support, for the for possible border reform?

Start with Nancy Boyda.

So when I was in Congres before I did break with my party and I said, we have to start getting thi border bill together right now if we don't have some bipartisan immigration reform, that there's going to be a humanitarian crisis on the border.

And today we have this crisis on both sides of the border.

And so what did I say?

Yes, we need to start with border security.

Kansans have heard way too many times that we're going to do something with immigration, and then we're going to fix the border.

We're going to do something over here.

It's going to be great for America, and then we're going to fix the border.

I'll tell you what the good people of Kansas do not want to hear anything other than we're going to fix the border first as part of a bipartisan bill, fix the border, and then we can start to do the immigration, I mean, the pathway to immigration, to legal immigration.

And we can look at visas and what we need to do to make sure that we have the workforce that we need.

we will also then here' let me talk about Derek Schmidt for just a minute.

Derek Schmidt is on the other side that says we need to deport 10 million people.

That will completely, completely upset our economy.

It will cause massive inflation.

Nothing like we have seen before.

And the human suffering that will come from from tearing our families and our communities apart with people who have been her practically their whole lives.

It's just wrong Matt/.

Love thy neighbor.

I think there is a understandable way that we can find common ground, and it's about welcoming the refugee.

It's about welcoming the migrants.

Unless you are Native American or you, your family and your ancestors were brought here in forced slavery, you are the descendant of immigrants or you're an immigrant yourself.

And I think that there is a serious need for border security, and there's also a need to b compassionate at the same time.

And that has bipartisan support across our country.

There are folks who recognize that our economy exists because there are folks who will work jobs that are challenging to work, but they are hard workers and H-2a visas, half of our H-2a visas in this country, entry level farmworkers are undocumented immigrants.

So we have to recognize, as Nancy said, that our the cost of living will go up if as now, it's not just Derek Schmidt, it's every single, candidate on the othe side of the aisle in this race has their way.

I think it's also recognized worth recognizing that there was a bipartisan Bob are talking points.

There was a bipartisan, bipartisan agreement that some of the most conservative members of the the United States Senate on the GOP side said, hey, we can work together.

We can find a common ground.

But if you look carefully, this is the number one issue because they want it to be there's always a caravan right before an election.

There's always there's always something.

Immigration is down 40% from the recent surge.

And it and the report just came out this week that immigration the the undocumented immigrants in our state contribute $200 million a year to our local economy.

So I think we need to have a real conversation.

We need to have a conversation about a smarter border system, not a dumb wall.

I got some questions from, the viewers.

And, there's a theme for for three of these, and I'll quickly read them and then we'll get a question out of it.

Says, what have you been doing for Kansans over the last six years?

While campaigning for Congress, what have you learned from voters that changed your point of view in the las five years?

What have you done that makes you a better engaged candidate?

So it sounds like the theme of those questions are maybe, as you've been campaigning even before, what have you learned about, about the issues or about Kansas that has, as one viewer said, made you a bette informed, candidate or person?

We'll start with Matt.

So I'll take the first one.

for the last ten years not just six, I've been working every single day in my community.

I've been working with young people and construction trade skills.

I've been working with communities who are desperate to have affordable housing and affordable food in their communities.

I have worked to make sure that Covid resources were distributed equitably in our communities.

this is the work of being a public servant.

I care deeply about my community, and that' what I've been doing every day.

but I also know that when you are across a district, not every community is the same.

We have similar issues.

We hav we have issues about affordable housing in a lot of places.

But it's different, right?

We have multifamily housing concerns in some of our more urban populations, like Topeka and and Wyandotte.

We have rural single family housing issues in places like Humboldt and Parsons.

We have issues that also unite us, right?

We have seniors who are struggling to make it work on a fixed income.

We have folks who can't afford to stay in their homes because the property taxes are getting too high.

I think what I have learned as a candidate is that one I'm the only candidate talking about kitchen table issues.

Every time I go out there, every time I go out there, it's on my platform.

These are the things that people care about.

And when I've talked on panels in front of Republicans, they come up to me and say, yeah, Matt, like, that's what we want to hear about.

We're not hearing about that because everybody else wants to talk about immigration and inflation all the time.

I believe that we have more in common as Kansans as a second district than we have the divides us.

And I know that because that's the work I've been doing for the last ten years, Nancy.

So for the last ten years about, we've lived on a little far just southwest of Baldwin City, and we live very simply, very sustainably.

It's a little two bedroom, one bathroom house.

And so young people come all the time.

I've been a part of a sustainable agriculture community, and their eyes just get all dreamy and they go, this is what I really want to do.

And I said, I know, I know.

So I have been part of casting a vision for how we live more simply, how we live more equitably and sustainably.

and that has gone a long way.

when kids talk about climate change, I say, maybe we could just do this in a more simple fashion.

Somebody says, well, what what do you want for public policy?

And I'm going, we do not need the federal government telling us how to live more simply.

But I lead by example.

Then I also am on a few boards.

I am on the boar of a homeless resource center, and I'm on the ground shoulder to shoulder with people who I know their names, and then they know my name.

And we are doing everything we can to get them matched up with the resources that they need to get their lives put back together, if that's where they're going.

I also, work with the Ballard Center in Lawrence, and we're doing everything there to keep families away from homelessness.

So I'm not part of just an organization.

I'm on the board, but I'm not part.

I'm on the ground working with people face to face, eyeball to eyeball every day.

And it has been a huge blessing.

We always get questions regarding veterans.

And of course, the second district has a lot of, veterans.

So Congress obviously has a big role to play in Veterans Affairs.

How can the U.S. government improve services to veterans?

So we start with Nancy.

Well, that's an excellent question.

So, I think we're looking at having a new hospital up in Leavenworth.

and that would be a veterans home or a veterans home in Leavenworth.

And I think that we need to continue to do that.

Jerry Moran has been known as the as the veteran guy and keeping veteran funding coming to Kansas.

And Democrats were the ones when I was in office that brought the federal that the veterans spending was almost none and brought it up to in $6 billion in our first year to make sure that we had veteran funding.

So bringing some of that back to Kansas is absolutely.

Jerry tried to do some things where we got more community based health care, and that had a double edge.

When you have community based health care, some people can get to their community better, but it also took valuable resources away, and we need to not have it be one or the other.

It needs to be community based but not have our current system that we have the federal government, the VA system.

It doesn't.

It needs all the funding that it can be, especially when it comes to mental health care.

We really need to make sure that we have the right, the number and the right health care providers there for our veterans who have literally given everything for our country.

It's the least that we can do for them that, I want to start and thi is probably not the right thing to do as a Democrat on a Democratic forum.

I want to give a shout out to Michael Ogle.

he's a Republican candidate.

And Michael, if you talk to Michael, he's he's actually lived it.

And I again, peopl who are closest to the problems need to be closest to the solutions, full stop.

And he talks about the nee for benefits for our veterans.

And he he has that experience.

And I think you need people like Michael who have that understanding that we disagree on everything else.

But that's okay, because I think taking care of veterans shoul not be a Partizan issue, right?

That we should make sure that those who have served our country faithfully are served, with the utmost care when they return.

And so when I'm talking to veterans out there in the district, I'm having conversations where they tell me about, they're losing providers.

they're getting, expensive care that they weren't planning for when they in their service.

But now they have, medical bills that keep racking up, and they're not getting the care that they need.

And I think if you really want to see what the other side of the aisle thinks about veterans, I would highly encourage you.

If you care about your veterans, look up project 2025, look up what they're going to do to the veterans.

They're going to cut their care so drastically that we might as well not have a VA.

The amount of care that our our veterans need is one that I think the investment that we can make in our country, we all should agree on.

And I don't understand why only Democrats are standing up here saying we need to make sure our veterans are protected and that they get the care that they deserve.

So I always go up to Iowa to see the candidates every four years, the presidential candidates and, every candidate, every forum.

There's always a question about marijuana.

So I have to say there's always a question about marijuana.

So the 2023, Kansas Fort Hays Stat poll of all Kansans and showed 66% of Kansans supported the legalization of medical marijuana, including 60% of Republicans.

So I'm going to just go with medical.

Would you support passing a federal law to legalize medical marijuana?

Because, of course, many, many states have legalized recreational and or medical, but it's still federally, against the law.

So we'll start with Matt.

I'll start with medical, but you can of course address if recreational.

If you'd like.

I think we have a drug system that is woefully out of date.

we schedule our marijuana as if it's this, you know, danger to our families, and, well, certainl any any substance can be abused.

marijuana.

The research is out there.

People who are in state that have legalized it aren't, having overdoses and dying from marijuana.

Now, granted, Republicans will tell you that fentanyl laced marijuana is a deadly scourge, but medical marijuana helps people.

It helps people.

It's not a gateway drug.

It's an opportunity for people who need access to health care to find a more affordable alternative.

And I've seen firsthand folks who use those drugs, and they are able to take care of things without having to g to prescription drug companies, who will overcharge them for the basic they need to live their lives.

I think we need to not only legalize it, but we need to tax it.

Right?

There are opportunities to grow revenue at our state level where if we have marijuana and medical marijuana, we can make sure tha our families are taken care of.

We can make sure that we're investing back in our communities because we have a new stream of revenue.

And I'll just end by giving Esau Freeman a shout out.

He's our, district four Democratic candidate.

And in every form I've ever been, Esau will shout out, legalize weed!

and he's the legalize weed guy.

but this is a thing that I think we hav a lot of bipartisan support for.

I think people recognize that the lies we've been tol from the pharmaceutical industry are no longer the case.

I think we as a country need to step back and say, is it worth the investment?

Is it worth the research?

Is it worth making sure that folks who are hurting have access to health care?

And I believe it is anti well, I agree with with Matt.

So once again we are in agreement here.

I would just add to tha the whole justice aspect of this that we have really had this unequal justice when it comes to medical or to marijuana.

And so we need to we need to get rid of all of what's been going on with arrests and having people who have had their, who had who have been arrested and have now records.

We need to get that all cleared up.

So I would agree with Matt.

I don't know tha I have a lot to add other than, the importance of making sure that this is not part of a justice issue.

This is really a medical issue.

The people who are suffering with cancer, people who are suffering with pain, the data all show that we need to have medical marijuana.

it is not it is not, as he says, a gateway drug.

It just makes sense.

We've got bipartisan support.

So yes, I would absolutely vote for medical marijuana in, in, in Congress.

I have one little thing.

And then, Nancy, feel free to jump in.

20s each or 20s very simply, you get then 20s I'm good if I can do it.

Great.

I will I will just add, if we want to talk abou immigration, a lot of the folks that are coming across our border are being forced to work in indentured servitude in illegal marijuana farms.

If we're caring about our immigration system, we need to make sur that there's not exploitation.

The only way to d that is to get OSHA protections for folks who are growing marijuana.

If you care about our workforce.

So if you care about people being safe and healthy, that includes folks who are in that industry.

We need to make sure that we're caring for that as well, because that will help with our immigration issues.

You got 20s plus a bonus ten for a green.

So I would jus say that's the whole thing about when we're looking at a bipartisan immigration that the 10 million people who are not documented, I don't care what industry they're in, we can't have compassion for them if they're in the shadows that when we have this bipartisan immigration bill, it lifts up our worker so that they now are documented.

They're not working in the shadows.

They have safety.

they, they they get pai instead of just being harassed and not being paid.

So when I'm talking about a bipartisan immigration, I'm right there with you.

It's not just medical marijuana or marijuana.

It's the safety and the well-being of all of these immigrants need to be brought into a legal system that starts with border security first.

Thank you.

Just got this question in I think it's a good one question is many rural communities in the district are struggling with people moving away?

That's true.

What are, the candidates plan to reinvigorate rural economies and communities and I'm assuming they also ask and to stop people from moving away, Nancy boy.

Well, I think rural development.

So I was on the, the Agriculture Committe when we did the farm bill.

And rural development was an it's such an important part of it.

We have so many beautiful towns in Kansas.

And I have said that I believe, I truly believe that rural Americ is the last place to gentrify.

And I try to use that word carefully because it has good and bad connotations.

But the price of housing,...

I was just told that we got to wrap.

So 30 10s finish up and then 30s.

Okay, we need rural development.

We have some absolutely stellar examples within the second district of rural development, that we need to highlight and we need to make we need to do everything we can as leaders to help other communities along that way.

Sorry.

Yeah.

It wasn't getting it.

So 20s for a quick thanks.

Sure.

I'll just say, five years ago, Miss Boyda, I don't know if you remember, came to me in my grou at the KU School of Architecture and said she needed our help on doing rural development, and it's the experience that I have.

We need affordable housing.

We need to invest in our infrastructure and our education, and we need to make sure that working familie have what they need to survive.

I appreciate that we're goin to go to the closing statements, and you each have 90s, and we will start with, Matt, Kleinmann.

All right.

Thank you to everyone at KTWU and Washburn for hosting this forum.

This election is not about me versus Boyd.

It it's about you.

It's about our families.

It's about who you trust to show up, to care your voice and values to Washington, and to put in the hard work and to make our lives and communities better.

Our campaign unites us around a shared vision of what we can achieve when we work together.

I'm proud to be endorsed by multiple Young Democrat groups because they believe in our campaign's vision for the future.

Two years ago today, we shocked the world when our reproductive freedoms were on the ballot, and they will b on the ballot again this fall.

I'm also the only candidate i this race to receive endorsement from labor unions.

They endorsed me because they see our campaign as a champion for working families in the middle class.

This election is about our future.

What kind of world do we want to live in?

What kind of nation do you want to leave for the next generation?

Just last week, President Jo Biden shared that the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation.

That's the best way to unite our nation.

Kansas leaders from across the state have endorsed our campaign because they believe we will carry the torch forward for the next generation of Kansans.

I'm not a career politician.

I'm somebody who deeply cares about our community, and I care deeply about you and your family succeeding.

I believe in Kansas value and supporting working families.

The only way we're going to win is by bringing everybody together, united.

And I'm the only and the only candidate in the race who's doing that.

Because I know that when we work together, we win together.

My name is Matt Kleinmann, and I hope to earn your vote on August 6th.

Thank you.

All right, Nancy Boyda., we've talked about so many issues that are crucial to our economy.

Both of us want to get to D.C., get to wor and make people's lives better.

Affordable housing, health care.

The price of groceries, income inequality.

It's clear both of us care a lot.

But for the last 16 years, this district has had representatives who care more about corporate America than struggling working families.

And it is time for that to change.

The Kansas City Star said Matt is the better fit for the primary, but then turned around and said that I, and I quote, might indee be appealing to general election voters in the conservative second district.

Is it winning the general?

What this is all about?

On August 7th, Matt has to pivot.

And if he can try to appea to moderates and independents, I'm already there and I've already been taking on Derrick Schmidt every chance I get.

There is no waiting until August 7th.

My campaign slogan is solutions are in the center.

It's a perfect slogan for the general election.

The majority of Kansans are actually pretty moderate, practical people who just want Congress to come together and make their lives more workable than they are today.

I'm former Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, and if you actually want a Democrat to win this year, you need to vote for me.

Thank you.

You've been watching the candidates asking for your vote for the Kansas second Congressional District Democratic primary, thanks to Nancy Boyda and Matt Kleinman for being part of this important element of the democratic process on behalf of our debate partners the political science department at Washburn University, and from all of us here at KTWU, I'm Bob Beatty.

Thanks for watching.

And remember to vote on August 6th.

Goodbye.