Ed. Note: Below is the transcript of the interview with Tyson Thrall. He is running in the republican primary for election in the 102nd District of the Kansas House of Representatives.
Marc Jacobs: So, tell me a little bit about Tyson Thrall. Where you come from? Where you want to go?
Tyson Thrall: Well, so first off, I'm married to my beautiful wife, Kayla Thrall. We'll be married 12 years in October, and we have three children, Titus, James, and Adrian. Kaylin and I met at Sterling College, all there, and got a degree in exercise science. And from there, we've done various things. But come back here and to Hutchinson, and this is where we are really growing our family, building our family. We're setting, you know, got roots here, and I guess it's been about a few years back, probably five or six years. I started listening to an organization called Wall Builders, and those guys are their name is based off of the scripture in Nehemiah, and Nehemiah goes to the king and he and he says, you know, can I go back? I want to go back to God calling me back to Jerusalem, and he said, "I need to go back and rebuild the walls, lest we be a reproach to the Lord. And so David Barton came up with wall builders here, and it it really it stands for let's rebuild the walls of the republic because they've been crumbling. And so that's where I got inspired to get involved in politics and affect positive change in any way I can and rebuild the walls. Get back to the biblical roots that we were founded upon.
Marc Jacobs: So, I'm going to take a look at this because I'm going to give a whole different angle. As you are up against the incumbent, what did you look think of the legislative session itself? Did they accomplish what needed to be done? Did they not accomplish what they needed to be done?
Tyson Thrall: Well, I've heard differing things that have been knocking doors, and I think by and large the thing that people are not real thrilled about is SB 98. It was signed in April of last year, and SB 98 is is sold as a as a bill for regulations on incoming data centers, but overall, it's a it's a it's a tax incentive for new data centers coming into Kansas. So, I don't think that that was a good a good bill to be passed. Definitely not, according to a lot of the people that I've been talking to as I'm door knocking throughout the 102nd district.
Marc Jacobs: So, I'm going to jump. I'm going to jump ahead a little bit quick here because I was going to ask this a little bit later, but you brought it up there. Data centers and battery energy storage systems. What's your thoughts on those? Is that a local issue? Is that a state issue? What's your take on that?
Tyson Thrall: Yeah, I think it's a local issue because there's lots of different areas throughout the state, and I don't think that it should be a one size fits all kind of thing. I'm overall, I'm not by and large, I'm not in favor of hyperscale data centers. I just don't think that there's that there's a good enough payoff for what the risk is, and I know after talking to lots and lots of people here locally that they're not in favor of it. So, but I do believe that it should be a local issue, and right now we're experiencing that with our city council and our and our county commission, and they're just looking at doing regulations and things like that. And I don't think that's what the people are actually desiring.
Marc Jacobs: So, are there other items that the legislature passed that you agree with or disagree with that really are to the forefront of your campaign?
Tyson Thrall: There's not a whole lot that I can think of. That I know there's been some talk on on property tax relief, I know that when you when you sign bills into law, those things take a little bit of time to take effect, and some have talked that they have brought in some relief, but a lot of others, like like again, the people that I'm talking with, are are not experiencing that relief, and I understand that that's not all state, but it is local, and whether it's city or or county, when it comes to property tax. So there's not a lot that I've seen that's pertaining specifically to my campaign that that I I can say good or bad.
Marc Jacobs: All right, one last question before we head into the break. What is the most important thing that you would like to accomplish if you're elected to go go to Topeka?
Tyson Thrall: Absolutely. So, in Florida and in Tennessee, they have come up with what's called a Faith and Community Initiative, and what that means is they've partnered with local nonprofits, churches, and they've really fought against the foster care system. And so, in Florida, what they they're right now they're working with 2,200 different organizations, churches, nonprofits, synagogues, and what that's done for them is it taken there in 2019 when DeSantis took office, it was 23,332, and in in fall of 2025, the number was just below 15,000. So that's something that I'm really excited about, and something that I would like to implement in the state of Kansas to combat that foster care system and just bring about a better opportunity for life for those kids that do find themselves there and then get them connected with the right people.
Marc Jacobs: I want to talk a little bit. You talk about door knocking. I want to. I want to talk about what you're hearing. What kind of boots on the ground response that you're hearing from people that you're talking to on a day-to-day basis.
Tyson Thrall: Yeah, definitely. A lot of these people, I'm telling them what I am interested in doing as far as the campaign goes and bringing to the state house in Topeka, and a lot of that is like what our first president George Washington said. He said, of all the habits and dispositions that lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are in two indispensable supports. And in vain would that man claim tribute of patriotism that would seek to subvert those two great pillars. And so that's what I want to bring back is the integrity, the morality to, and I'm not saying there isn't any there. I just want to bring more of it to there, and in so running and maybe in hopefully winning, that I can encourage more people to bring that morality to the state house, and then our governance gets better, and overall, we our families and our communities then get stronger through that. So that's what I'm hearing that people are excited about. They like that. Whenever I talk about that, they like that. Of course, they like the idea of lower property taxes. They like stronger education. They like more parental support through that education, parental rights in that, and they also like the faith and community initiative that I spoke about earlier.
Marc Jacobs: All right, let's talk a little bit about you headed to Topeka because I I think people would want to know what you plan, what you want to take with you what can you add to the legislature?
Tyson Thrall: Yeah. Well, of the things that I've spoken about already, the faith and community initiative, I think just a stubbornness in a good way. Sometimes it's sometimes it's bad. That's my life but bringing that to that a good strong work ethic, and really overall, the Holy Spirit bringing that to the state house through me, and that's what I think what I can bring is the creator. I want to bring the creator of government back into it.
Marc Jacobs: So, when you look at you look at government and government spending and budget, are there items that you can think of that don't necessarily belong in the state budget, but possibly other budgets? I mean, what would you do? How would you help balance the budget?
Tyson Thrall: Well, I would want to look at everything, whatever I could get involved in, and determine: Hey, is this our jurisdiction? Even as the state government, should we be involved in this? And if so, then how can we most effectively do spending all these different things, and how can we get out of it if we're not supposed to be in it? If we've taken that that ground where we shouldn't have, then how do we how do we back out of there and and return that to the people? And that's how I think you would go about whether it's balancing a budget, cutting spending, then lowering taxes, and overall relieving the burden of the taxpayer.
Marc Jacobs: Are there anything? Are there any priorities? Are there are their items that you believe that the state could do better on or are there items that the that the state should remain in in the budget. Not you know what are what where's the common ground?
Tyson Thrall: I think there are some things. It's a challenge, no matter where you are. So, with education, I think there are things within their position. Within there that maybe we don't necessarily need. Now the challenge with that is why did we bring the question is why did we bring those positions in the first place? What's changed over time? Whether it's the amount of people or the kind of attention that's required for students. Now is that affected by sort of a decline in culture and parenting not being as as effective or parents not being as willing to step up and be the parent that they need to be are those the reasons that we've that we've increased positions in in education and had to pay more I don't know but those are questions to ask before you start looking at what can we do without. So why are they there, and can we do without them? And that that's just one specific area because I know that education is an important topic because really education is discipleship, and that's what encourages the next or discourages the next generation of adults that come in and are then doing the business and running the economy.
Marc Jacobs: All right, sir, we got about a minute left. What do you want to put out there today that's going to make somebody want to vote for you? What do you want to tell your future constituents why they should vote for you?
Tyson Thrall: I want to tell everybody that I'm not interested in going up there to be there forever. I want to go there, and I want to I want to go up to the state house, and I want to do what I can to make positive change, and then I want to encourage more people to go up there and do that thing, do the same thing. I'm not there to interested in enriching myself. I'm interested in in serving. Jesus said, "If he who wants to be great needs to be greatest of all, needs to be least of all, needs to be servant to all. And that's my mentality going into it: is to serve first and foremost, and I've got a lot of experience in that with a wife, almost 12 years and three kids, a service mentality. So that's what I will take up there, and a good hard work ethic, and somebody who will listen to what you're what you have to say, and something, someone to find common ground with those that I don't that I don't agree with, and somehow to make things happen.