About 18 months ago, I wrote that the 2014 election for governor was “the most important election in your lifetime.” That declaration stands.

We knew in November 2014 that the Kansas economy was headed off the cliff, but we could not appreciate how far down we would fall. Voters actually did understand, according to exit polls, that the Governor Brownback’s income tax policies were failing.

If the high-dollar battle (roughly $17 million) between Senator Roberts and challenger Orman had not changed the focus to Obama from Brownback, it’s likely that the governor would have lost. Instead, he narrowly won four more years to continue of the so-called Kansas experiment.

But Governor Brownback is both term-limited and not on the ballot in 2016. So Democrats and centrist, sensible Republicans simply must focus on state legislative races this year. Period.

Forget Bernie, forget Hillary, forget whoever wants to challenge Senator Jerry Moran. Don’t give a cent to national campaigns. Not a cent. Kansas needs to return to its largely successful moderate-conservative government model of the past fifty years. We need to start electing responsible, non-ideological state legislators who will find ways to reverse the Brownback Administration’s truly disastrous policies.

So – how to do that? Honestly, it’s no mystery. Recruit good candidates. Provide them with money, the “mother’s milk” of politics. Encourage them to campaign with unbounded energy, starting now and not relenting until November 8. Work hard on their behalf, including extensive communications with your friends and acquaintances.

We know this works because it always has. In Kansas, we know it works because for more than 20 years far-right Republicans have followed this formula. If the 2014 election demonstrated anything for Democrats and moderate Republicans, it was that being “right” on the issues, and especially income taxes, did not guarantee victory. Money mattered a lot, but so did the energy and hard work that have supported far-right politics in Kansas for the past two decades.

Change, however, is in the wind. Continually declining Kansas revenues, growing numbers of cutbacks, and the sub-basement approval ratings of Governor Brownback have greatly increased the incentives to challenge incumbents. Even in mid-April, seven weeks before the June 1 filing deadline, we’re seeing a lot of potentially strong candidates step up.

Although there are the usual former incumbents, such as Democrat Cindy Neighbor in Johnson County, and the young guns, like Lenexa Democrat Logan Heley, the most interesting set of candidates come from the category of “local notables.”

Historically in citizen-legislature states like Kansas, well-known community figures would spend a few years in the legislature, in effect taking their turn to serve the state. Over the past few decades, such selfless and costly service has waned. But as Baby Boomers retire and enjoy good health, more are running for state and local office – offering public service at the end of their working careers – a trend highlighted recently in The New York Times.

This year, for example, former Hutchinson CCC president Ed Berger, a Republican, and Democratic Wichita school board member Lynn Rogers are challenging sitting senators, as is veteran Overland Park city commissioner John Skubal, another Republican. These candidates face difficult races against incumbent far-right Republicans, but given the turmoil at the top of the GOP ticket and Sam Brownback’s unpopularity, it’s a welcome sign that these well-qualified individuals are getting into the game.

If 2014 was the most important election in memory, 2016 isn’t far behind. State legislative races are scarcely sexy, but they represent the essential first step in changing the capitol’s cast of characters and returning responsible rule to Topeka.

Burdett Loomis is a professor of political science at the University of Kansas.

We settled into the blind well before sunup to watch and listen to the day awaken. The glow of the new morning had barely climbed above the horizon when Greater Prairie Chickens began to fly in from the pastures around us. Just as we had been told, we heard their distinctive “booming,” like a mourning dove on steroids, before we ever saw the first arrive. One or two at a time they came until nine males boomed, strutted and scampered about, merely fifty yards away.

Known as a “lek,” this hallowed patch of high, open ground is chosen by the males as one of several mating sights each year. Like junior high boys at the school dance, each male inflates the bright orange throat patch on each side of its head, fans out its tail, tucks its head down & forward and struts and scampers about and picks fights with his buddies, all in an attempt to attract and impress the “ladies.” The booming sound comes when those throat patches are deflated, and booms are often mixed with a hysterical assortment of clucks, purrs and twitters.

Bob and Margaret Massey are walking encyclopedias about “all things greater prairie chicken,” as they have had leks on their ground just east of Dexter, Kansas for as long as they can remember. It seems the birds like their bare, open soybean and milo stubble fields in early spring because they are the highest points around, and because they are some of the few crop fields amidst thousands of acres of rolling pasture.

Greater Prairie Chickens seem to nest only in native grasses so they do well in the tall native-grass pastures in the southern part of Kansas. In the 1990’s there were often 8 to 10 leks on or near the Massey’s property, and it was common to see 500 to 600 greater prairie chickens from blinds surrounding those leks. Word of mouth brought professional photographers and visitors from all over the US and from as far away as England, Germany and Canada. In the early 2000’s ranchers began experimenting with increased grazing practices that grazed the native grass pastures much shorter and the greater prairie chickens nearly ceased to exist in that part of the state.

Today, those grazing practices have been amended, allowing pastures to remain taller like before and the prairie chickens are returning. Another factor these birds have going for them is their ability to re-nest if their first clutch of eggs is lost.

Massey told us they are able to re-nest up to 3 times without having to rebreed again; the first clutch of eggs will number about 12, and the number of eggs will diminish each time.

The Massey’s property has a nice lodge with sleeping quarter’s upstairs and entertaining facilities and a full kitchen downstairs, plus a stocked fishing pond. In honor of a son tragically killed in a tractor accident, Massey’s ran Mark Massey Memorial Boy’s Ranch from 1973 until 1985. Since then they have also shared their facilities and the Lord with abused wives and their children, a family member struggling with addiction and Missionaries awaiting support to serve in Africa.

They also host church groups for retreats and workshops.

Today, the board of directors of their 4M Ministries is strongly considering starting a Cowboy Church on Saturdays nights to provide a worship opportunity for area ranchers who must care for cattle on Sunday mornings. So whether it’s to watch and listen to the early spring antics of greater prairie chickens and to enjoy Margaret’s homemade biscuits and gravy afterwards, or to spend a weekend with your church group in the middle of the southeastern Kansas prairie, check them out at www.4mministry.com. You’ll instantly feel like you’ve known them your whole life…Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors!

Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].