Special to TMN
Longtime rural reporter and farm advocate Larry Dreiling today declared his candidacy for Kansas’ 40th state senate district. The 40th district, which includes 14 counties and over 13,000 square miles, is the state’s largest senate district.
Rural Kansas has faced years of declining population and falling farm and ranch commodity prices. School district consolidation and hospital, post office, and business closures have added to the pressures many rural Kansas families face.
“I’m running for the farmers of the biggest district in the state who truly care about leaving a legacy for their children and grandchildren,” Dreiling said. “As the son of a 99-year old WaKeeney-raised World War II veteran, I want to make sure proper health care is available to rural Kansans.
“I’m running for the kids in rural K-12 public schools who aren’t getting a fair shake from our Legislature. I’m running to get our roads fixed, and to ensure funding for Fort Hays State and for our local community and technical colleges. And I’m running to fix our prison system so the violence we’ve seen elsewhere in Kansas doesn’t spread to the Norton Correctional Facility,” he said.
Dreiling is launching his campaign after a 42-year career in journalism, including stints as a senior field editor at High Plains Journal and news director at KAYS-AM/TV. His reporting has been honored with numerous statewide, national and international awards.
“My work as a rural journalist has taken me to every community in the western half of our state,” Dreiling said. “Over the past 42 years, I have learned much about who the people in our rural communities are and what they need and want from state government,” Dreiling said.
Dreiling is a triple graduate of Fort Hays State University, with a masters’ degree in communication and bachelors’ degrees in political science and communication. He currently lives in Hays, Kansas, and works as an adjunct professor of agriculture, informatics and political science at FHSU.