Republican Representative Stephen house of Salina marked the third anniversary of the January 6 attacks on the US Capitol with a forceful op ed condemning political violence and supporting the peaceful transition of power. The pieces thought thoughtful and thorough, and I encourage our listeners to read it. My name is Clay wire stone. I'm the opinion editor at Kansas reflector. And Representative Howe joins our podcast today to talk about his work. Welcome.
Thank you, Clay for having me.
So the start of your op ed goes into this a little bit. Tell us about your experiences on January 6 2021.
Okay, thank you clay. And in order to do that, I have to kind of back up in history a little bit. So I decided to run for the state representative in 2020. And of course, that was the pandemic year, I was teaching fifth grade at the time, and I was actually in Topeka, I was at a Fine Arts Festival at Caravelle and with my students. And when we left that day, we thought we'd be coming back after spring break, but we never did. And during the next few weeks, I ended up teaching online classes for 10 to 12 weeks. But over the course of that period of time, I did read a piece that was written showing that over 60% of the legislature was at risk for COVID because of their age. And so I thought, wow, that is quite interesting that there's that many people of that demographic age, representing us in Topeka. And perhaps, maybe, that I should step up to, you know, serve in that capacity because I represent a different season of life that might not be getting a voice in Topeka. And so that's why I decided to run. But so that was an interesting election year I won the Republican primary went on to the general and was elected. And of course, it was the same year that President Trump, former President Trump indicated that the election was stolen or rigged. At that point, that's the election year, I kind of tuned out, because I was fatigued with all the news reports, 24/7 news media, I was just really tired for the listening, the tit for tat, and all the accusations about,
well, you and so many of us. So many people. I
mean, it's really, that's the struggle. Who do you believe in this day of maybe too much information? Or maybe the age of misinformation? Sure. You know, Winston Churchill once said that a lie can get halfway around the world before the truth, can get his pants on in the morning or something like that. And so I paraphrase Winston Churchill, but he understood how quickly some of these things, get legs. But I sense at the time that there was nothing that I could tell in Kansas, that was awry with the elections. You know, it's something I followed with my county election officer, as well as the Kansas Secretary of State. And we have a pretty strong election infrastructure in the state of Kansas. And I never saw anything that would make me believe that the election was invalid, including my own, or anything else. So you know, January 6 happened, and I was really astonished. But even before then, I knew that the the former president was not letting up on his verbiage, but was doubling down on it really. And so I sent some things that weren't. We're not, I guess, good conducive for our democracy. Part of that I thought was bravado by the former president, because, you know, he is always self proclaimed a winner, and not to be a loser, and He will do anything in his power to not admit that he lost. And, you know, there's a certain lack of humility on one's part to believe that to be true, and so, by the time January 6, got around, I was truly astonished and surprised with what I was seeing
on you, you right, that you you knew someone who was on Capitol Hill at the time. Correct.
A longtime friend, fellow Kansan, who's serves on Capitol Hill, he contacted me on January 5. And earlier a few months prior to that, we had plans to reconnect because we just you know how time goes, you lose connections with friends. And we had made a commitment sometime that after the election that year that we were going to connect, but he had indicated that he still was very hurt with what was going on. And I think he was maybe a little upset with me, because he knew I was a Republican that I supported the former president in the election. And he was struggling to one out, reach out to me and connect, knowing that I had supported the former president. So there was some animosity there or some tension, because I guess maybe guilt by association, which is another struggle I think we have in the American electorate is, you know, to deem someone guilty by association isn't always reflective of someone's heart. And so, but he had reached out to me saying that he was really not comfortable and not ready to yet reconnect. And so I knew something was wrong. And the way he said it, in his text message to me, indicated that he was also fearful for his safety and the safety of his colleagues and friends. And, and I didn't fully understand what he meant by that at the time. And that was the day before January 6.
And then you heard from him during the day? I did, yeah, I did.
It was around midday. Not quite in the afternoon yet. So it was probably late morning, I started getting text messages. And I had did not have the TV on or anything like that. So I didn't know what was going on. And so I had to play a little bit of catch up. And so I sent him a message back saying, you know, praying for your safety. And your colleagues, you know, yeah. So, I
mean, I just know from from myself, it was, you know, I was I was working, I was not in journalism at the time I was working in the nonprofit world. And, you know, once once you saw it, it was, I think it can be easy to forget just how surprising and shocking it was at the time.
It was, I mean, I knew the President and his supporters had a rally scheduled, which I thought was totally just distasteful, because he had not participated in the peaceful transfer of power up to that point. It was all hands on deck to create a narrative that led people to believe that it wasn't a it was a stolen or invalid election. And I don't really know what his endgame was, other than a vice president that was going to go along willingly with his theory that he could block election certifications from the state.
Yeah, it was. And I do think that that's one of the the other parts about January 6, that I just personally wonder about. I know that there's, you know, frankly, conspiracy theories on both the left and right about this about like, was there some sort of devious master plan for January 6 there, whatever. But part of me just feels like there was a desire for chaos, you know, period.
Well, even Republican candidate Nikki Haley says chaos follows him. And it seems to be true. If you look back at some of the events that have ensued that He's participated in, it's certainly been the case. And in my Op Ed, I do kind of lay out that, you know, this isn't the first time the former President has talked about election fraud or an election being stolen, have gone back to his Twitter file, back to 2012. When it was Obama and Romney in the election, and the former president was tweeting back then that, you know, watch your your votes, because we're getting reports that they're being switched from Romney votes to Obama votes, and things like that. So I've tried to lay out the case that, you know, this isn't anything wasn't anything new in 2020. This has been an ongoing pattern or trend. Well, I
think it actually I've said this to several people, I think it speaks speaks to very well to the character, you know, retroactively to have both Mitt Romney and John McCain, that when they have their elections, you know, both both times against Barack Obama, there were folks who did want them to say this election was stolen, or there was something illegitimate. And they really shut that down, they went ahead with the idea of a peaceful transfer, you know, with with respecting the electric election results,
right. Yeah, that's, I mean, for the for, for our republic to survive. It needs the peaceful transfer of power. And that is a bedrock foundational issue that is allowed us to survive as a democratic republic. And I feel like that that is not something you toy with. So
obviously, this, this happens in 2021, there's been a lot of stuff happening in these intervening years. You know, we've had some investigations into it, we're coming up on to another presidential election. What do you think, if anything has changed over these last few years, kind of in the country among Republicans? What have you seen?
Well, for me, to really come to the conclusion, I needed to write this Op Ed, I had to do my own research. And so that's kind of what I did, because I really kind of buried my head in the sand after the 2020. Election. I, for me that year, the primary election was the general election in my district. And so I really just kind of tuned out and kind of, I guess, was selfish, I focused on what I had to do in my own life. And I really wasn't paying too much of attention of what was going on around me. And so I missed a lot of things. And so I had to go back and do some research. I'm not on Twitter, I've never been on Twitter. So I had to go and research the former president's Twitter file, and whatnot. But I really just had to do my own research for myself and reached my own conclusion. But but in terms of the political landscape, I do think there is, even after I wrote this, I received a message from a neighbor, or someone in the neighborhood, and someone that I've known for a while. And they said, they still believe the election was stolen three years, since January 6 has happened. And I don't know if I can change the minds of fellow Republicans that still believe that, because people will, you know, believe what they want to believe. And I'm only one person and that I'm trying to shine the light on some things here for our fellow Republicans to consider, especially moving into a presidential primary season. And with Kansas having a presidential preference primary on March the 19th. This year, I think Republicans need to know that there is a Republican at the state level that isn't going to support the former president.
Yeah, it was, well, one of the questions I had was to ask what kind of reception you've received to the piece? So I guess that's that's part of it. But have you what else have you heard? So writing,
I've received quite a quite a few encouraging notes from constituents, people that I've never heard from before, or maybe I've never, never met in person, but have sent me notes by email, some phone calls. And people were encouraged by me coming forward and in writing the piece. And I think there's more Republicans still out there that perhaps don't want to speak publicly. They don't want to get the backlash or the retribution that the former President has talked about if he's reelected. But I'm not fearful of that. I have a very good district, good natured people, very giving very generous and with their time and talent. And I feel very blessed by that. There are some, though, that are talking about, you know, potentially challenging me in in the election cycle this year, but I'm not too worried about my own election. I'm really worried about our constitutional republic, or RIP republican form of democracy here in the United States. People have to know that their elections are secure. In here at the state level. We have tried to make some improvements to like election security and whatnot. But people should also know there hasn't been the widespread fraud, or things going on in our state. Because we've looked, and we've looked at time and time again, but not nothing has ever come up. It seems like there's a lot of people that want to sow distrust. To get people to believe into a bill of goods, it's really not worth a whole lot. So
well, and this is, this is something I can just say, from my own work as someone who's written a bunch of opinion pieces, obviously, I often come from a liberal side of things. But I feel as though oftentimes I've written about things that I don't think are fundamentally liberal or conservative, you know, the fact that, you know, viruses exist, that elections are real, you know, that the election results are accurate. And I think it's a real it's a real problem for us as a functioning society when things like that become coded as political beliefs. I mean, that's just my, my take, but it can be very concerning. Sure.
Sure. It's, you know, then to Republican meetings before. And even the meeting itself, there was accusations of whether or not what we're voting on that day was secure, because we were using electronic devices. And how did people know that this, there was an interference with our electronic devices. But at the end of the day, you have to trust and have some faith in the things that are there to work and to benefit you. And it just was kind of ridiculous, because there was, this meeting lasted way too long. And it was proposed by Republicans to do the meeting this way to be respectful of everybody's time. And so you, they wouldn't have to spend an extra an hour or two counting paper ballots on maybe more trivial matters at an internal party meeting. And so I even saw telltale signs of this distrust even back before the 2020 election.
So what do you think, you know, looking at the scene, now, you're talking about your concerns about this, this upcoming election? You know, broadly speaking, what do you think the way forward is, you know, how do we, I mean, it's, it's a lot for any one person to answer. Right. But But what do you think a start would be?
I think in order to continue, as a civil society, we need to allow each other space to, to be heard, and to listen. And just because someone disagrees with your opinion, on a policy matter, or something like that, doesn't mean they're a bad person. And so I think a lot of times these days, people take things so personally, or they make it personal, when it doesn't have to be. And, you know, I think that's the way we move forward is being civil, allowing for discourse, especially discourse from the other side. And, you know, you know, we can find common ground. And I've been encouraged during my time in the state legislature, that I would say, well, over 90% of the time, Republicans and Democrats are coming together, finding common ground and moving the ball forward in some way. And I think part of that is because we do have a little bit of a divided government here in Topeka, where you have Democrat governor, and House and Senate chamber that are Republican. And so you're kind of forced to find those common ground areas to move forward, whether it's tax policy or education funding or what have you. So I've been very encouraged. And the people I get to serve with are a real delight. You know, there's always going to be a few people that are pushing the boundaries of whatever it is at the at the time, but by and large, these are some really salt of the earth people that are serving Kansans up and up in Topeka. So
well, and it sounds like just from what you were saying earlier, that you're also really, that you feel support and strength from the folks who are your constituents as the folks in that area.
I do I do. It seems like a lot of the distrust when it comes to to government primarily comes from the federal government. And I've served on Capitol Hill for two different members of Congress. I've served on Capitol Hill and back in their district offices, too. So I have both perspectives. And sometimes there is a disconnect of what once people get up in Washington for a while there is can be a disconnect of the priorities and values of the people that they're supposed to represent back home. And I know there has been a stagnation, major stagnation in the way bills are supposed to be done up at the federal level, and people are very disappointed with the outcomes by their federal form of government. I remember back in 2010, when the Tea Party really got going, there was a lot of that came out of the 2008 financial crisis, and you even had Occupy Wall Street movement going on, but then you had the Tea Party going to that I think a lot of the same things are driving both ends of the spectrum, they're sure into a new form of activism. So I think it's been since the mid or early to mid 90s, to where they've actually passed all of their appropriation bills on time up in Congress, and was continuing resolution after a continuing resolution omnibus bill after omnibus bill, and our federal deficit keeps increasing, increasing $34 trillion now, and people were really worried about that. I mean, they've seen the value of the dollar shift quite a bit with inflation, and they're getting less for their dollars, but I have to work about twice as hard
to earn a living. Well, looks like they're getting ready to do another continuing resolution to here are they I that's there has been chatter about that, because there's just no no time. We just started on Monday, a new session of the Kansas legislature. So you know, had some had some snow here interrupting the week. But what are you looking at this year? What are you interested in as the session begins?
CLAY I currently serve as Chairman of the higher education budget committee. That budget committee is tasked with making recommendations to the appropriations committee about the funding levels for the six region, universities, and the community colleges, the tech colleges, as well as some of the financial aid that goes to students that attend our privates colleges in the state of Kansas. So I'll be primarily focused on our higher ed institutions and what we can do to support them. But as a state rep, representing my district, I've made it a priority to see what I can do to affect positive change so that we can better fund our special education students and those that support them. So that's a huge issue for my district. And my district. USD 305 is a pretty large public school represents two high schools, many elementary schools, but also serves as the lead school for a special ed Co Op, which provides special ed services to many rural communities in and around Salina. And so I want to do what I can to make sure that they have the tools they need to allow our special ed student population to succeed, but also to allow the general education students to get the funding they deserve to because what I've learned is our local school district is diverting money from the general ed population of students to satisfy the mandate of the 92% of excess cost of special ed services. So it's, to me, it's an untenable position to hold in the long term. Because eventually I'm fearful that there there will be another lawsuit that will, again, tie the hands of the legislature when it comes to funding education. And I think it's in our capacity to do the right thing. And it's just a matter of what is the right thing to do. Do we need to change the formula? Do we need to keep the current formula? What other things do we need to evaluate in the process? So I'm looking at all of those things, seeing what I can do with whether they're Democrats or Republicans to to achieve that goal.
Okay, well, Representative Stephen Hill Well, thank you so much for coming in to the podcast today. I really appreciate it.
