On Your Mark

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November.  Remembering Vets

Today, I am thinking of all Veterans that have made this the greatest Country in the world. Those who gave the ultimate price such as my Mom's brother, Uncle Danny Anderson, who was KIA in the Pacific theater at age 19.

If you live in Wyandotte County and are familiar with Bishop Ward Catholic High School, there is a monument in front of the school that list the names of former Ward students that were killed in WWII and my uncle Danny's name is number three on the monument.
He would be 88.

Patriots, when I am feeling low about all the stuff that is going on today with people who could care less about our Country, I try to remember all the Uncle Dannys - who give me courage to continue to fight the good fight.

May his blessing be on us all.

Mark S. Gilstrap

WYCO GOP Chair

Member of the Kansas Senate

1997-2008

                

August 31, 2013

 

Patriots, the 2014 election cycle will begin on Labor Day.  The primary election will be next August with the general election November of 2014.

Our State leaders, Governor Sam Brownback/ Lt. Governor Jeff Colyer, Secretary of State Kris Kobach, State Treasurer Ron Estes, and Attorney General Derek Schmidt, do not appear to have any strong Democrat opposition, but, take nothing for granted.    

The Insurance Commissioner's race may be one of the races that will be quite interesting because the incumbent will not be running and several Republicans are already campaigning hard.  The same goes for all the Congress people and U. S. Senate.  My prediction is that the Democrats will try to focus their money on State Representative races.

Friends, the time is now to start talking to everyone you know, family, friends, co-workers, neighbors.  Become a precinct person, it is easy, fun, and very important.  Become a candidate.  You getting involved and your circle of friends help all Republican candidates all the way down the ballot.  We need to keep Kansas strong.

Remember, there are three kinds of people, people that make things happen, people that watch things happen and people that wonder what happened.  What are we going to be?

 

Mark S. Gilstrap
WYCO GOP Chair
Member of the Kansas Senate
1997-2008

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AUGUST 2013

Attorney General Derek Schmidt

 Patriots,
for those of you who were unable to attend our Town hall last Tuesday, our GOP executive director, Clayton Barker did a great job of getting us motivated.

FYI, I am honored to announce that our own State Attorney's General Derek Schmidt will be our speaker for the 9-24 meeting at the Frontier steakhouse. I am expecting our largest crowd to date. Judges and Attorney's will be invited so come early to get a seat.

Attorney General Schmidt was Senator Steineger's and my Majority leader when we were all in the Senate He is a very dynamic and brilliant person.

Mark S. Gilstrap
WYCO GOP Chair
Member of the Kansas Senate
1997-2008
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February 2013

There is a growing appetite for change in Wyandotte County.  Citizens are looking for new leadership -  as evidenced in the past two years by the defeat of long-time Democrats John and Pat Pettey by two Republicans, Jeff Bryant and Angela Robinson Markley.  Let’s not forget Congressman Kevin Yoder winning Wyandotte County and Steve Fitzgerald winning the 5th Senate District against Kelly Kultala.  I hear more and more often that the Democrat party of today is not the same as it was in our parent’s days.

The first goal I wanted to achieve as party chair was to have a strong group of officers.   I am very proud of my leadership team of Vice Chair Patricia Stoneking, Secretary Rebecca Zirkle and Treasurer Deb Carr Ward.  Then I wanted to appoint interested persons to be precinct persons and to date we have recruited 11 new people. Third, I wanted to change our regular monthly business meeting into a monthly Town Hall meeting with interesting speakers and, fourth, I want to raise dollars to allow us to do outreach and support candidates.

There are many people throughout the State who are watching Wyandotte County closely and with great interest.  If we successfully build the party in Wyandotte County, the momentum will trickle up to State offices.  New leadership may initially cause some discomfort but also invites new members and it is my hope that we continue to bring in younger members into the WYCO GOP.  

The spring primary election is well underway in Kansas City, Kansas.  We are looking for a Mayor who will not automatically turn to tax increases to solve our problems. Wyandotte County is one of the highest taxed Counties in the State and the people of Wyandotte deserve a Mayor who has a good business sense and is able to understand a budget and understands how to comb through a department’s budget without just depending on an administrator or a budget director. 

On a personal note, Senator Chris Steineger and I fought hard to get all the development at the Speedway, the Legends, the Casino and Cerner and these businesses are bringing in millions of dollars in property taxes, yet some of our Commissioners still support tax increases on property and sales.  I believe of the five candidates for Mayor there is one who leans conservative and has posted on her website that she is against property tax increases.  It is critically important to the progress in Wyandotte County that voters learn who the candidates are and vet them carefully.   

The county must continue its push to fiscal responsibility.  Please attend the Town Hall meeting on Feb. 19 at the Frontier Steak House to meet and listen to the primary candidates for mayor and commissioners. 
~Mark Gilstrap~