By James Bell
Hays Post

Roger Marshall, Republican candidate for the Kansas First Congressional District, stopped in Hays late Tuesday afternoon for a meet and greet during a quick tour of the area.

“We’ve been in Scott City, then went to Goodland, then Atwood, then this morning we started off in Colby, then here and we will be finishing up in Salina this evening,” Marshall said.

Despite the small gathering awaiting him at Gella’s Diner & Lb. Brewing Co., Marshall was optimistic about the campaign and found residents have been generally responsive to his message as he listens to district residents.

“I needed to spend some time up there and I feel like we meet a lot of people and got a lot accomplished,” he said. “We’ve been in 52 communities now and I feel like we have a good base in those communities and our relationships with people are growing.”

Even while he’s busy with his campaign, Marshall has not cut back on his duties as a doctor in Great Bend. He has a practice in obstetrics and gynecology.

“I’m still trying to do both,” Marshall said, while spending “three to four days a week,” on the campaign.

With election season quickly approaching,  Marshall has seen fundraising for the campaign pick up, and the incumbent Rep. Tim Huelskamp’s (R-Fowler) campaign apparently has noticed.

“They continue to send people to record me and tape record me everywhere I go, hoping to catch me in a mistake, but that’s not surprising,” Marshall said.

During his tour, one of the key issues residents have brought to the attention of the candidate is education, something Marshall feels can be addressed by giving states more power to control their own education systems.

“My whole philosophy is to push everything down from the federal level down to the state level. I want the state to make the decisions, not the federal government,” Marshall said. “I think there is still a bureaucracy created by the federal government, and that’s what the school superintendents have told me.”

Marshall believes that bureaucracy is hurting the nation’s education system, making it over-complicated and over-regulated.

“Whatever’s complicated, let’s make it simple,” Marshall said.

Despite his desire to see less regulation, he said there are elements of the currently debated Common Core federal standard that may remain useful, but as currently implemented, they are making education less efficient at the local level.

“It’s created more bureaucracy for them to deal with,” Marshall said.

Marshall however, agreed that some of the points of Common Core, including base standards and educational standards, are still important to education.

“I think Common Core establishes minimum levels we should be following.”

More information about Marshall and his campaign is available here.