By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Tracey Mann is going to be the Republican nominee for the Kansas First District seat in Congress on the November ballot. He understands that the legacy of previous First District officeholders will be a challenge to obtain.
"That legacy is one of agriculture," Mann said. "One of sitting on the House Ag Committee, of representing the largest industry in this state, the largest industry in the Big First, by far. I'm a farm kid, grew up on a farm, spent hundreds of hours on a tractor, combine, worked thousands of head of cattle and excited for the opportunity to go and be a voice for Kansas agriculture."
The purse strings are the way Congress is able to hold the executive branch accountable, regardless of who is President.
"Congress is who oversees the funding for the EPA and other regulatory agencies," Mann said. "We've got to make sure they're doing what they're supposed to but are not overstepping their bounds. Agriculture continues to be plagued by a lot of burdensome regulations from the EPA and others. I think it's better than it's been, but we still have work to do there."
Mann sees part of his role, should he be elected, to educate urban members on how rural life works.
"We have members of the House Ag Committee who have never been on a modern family farm, that don't understand what agriculture is like in the year 2020," Mann said. "They don't understand what it's like to not have a good internet connection, what our rural communities go through. It's people being willing to advocate for our way of life and for agriculture."
Mann will face Democrat Kali Barnett in November.