Alan Jilka is doing everything you’d expect a candidate for office to do.
He’s riding and walking in community parades. He’s traveling around the state to meet and greet voters. He’s attending community forums.
And he’s doing it at a steady pace, making his way to November’s general election. After all, while the Republican party has six candidates racing toward the Aug. 3 primary, Jilka is the lone Democratic candidate to file for the Kansas 1st District Congressional seat vacated by Republican Jerry Moran.
On Wednesday afternoon, Jilka was at Emporia’s JavaCat-5.
The 1st Congressional District — called the Big First because of its size — encompasses 66 full counties and three half-counties, Jilka said. And he’s committed to visiting every one before the general election in November.
“We’re putting a lot of miles on a vehicle,” Jilka said, recounting how he ran into Moran when they both were involved in the same parade in western Kansas.
“I told him, ‘I have a newfound respect for you,’” Jilka said about the travel required to represent constituents in the district.
During his travels, Jilka said he has discovered that geography is not the only kind of distance he faces. He also has discovered the divergent viewpoints of residents of the Big First. Concerns have moved from worry about the passage of health-care reform to the Arizona immigration bill.
And, Jilka has found, the priorities and concerns differ based on geography, also.
“In far western Kansas,” he explained, “they’re concerned about water and having enough for farming. In the middle of the state, water is still somewhat of a concern and more manufacturing like in Salina and Hutchinson.”
The federal budget will be a large concern if he’s elected, Jilka said noting that two-thirds of the budget is spent on four categories -- Social Security, Medicare, national defense and interest on the national debt.
“The idea there is all sorts of discretionary spending that can be cut is nonsense,” he said. “There are no quick fixes.”
If elected, Jilka knows he’ll need to balance the diverse interests of constituents.
“Whatever we do, we need to be looking out for the economic interests of our district.”