Inflation, population decline most pressing issues in Kansas’ 4th District, candidates say

Candidates vying for votes in south-central Kansas’ 4th Congressional District have differing views on the area’s most pressing issue. And both think they are the person best-suited to represent constituents.

The race pits Republican incumbent Ron Estes, a former Sedgwick County and state treasurer, against Democratic challenger Bob Hernandez, a longtime Wichitan and military combat veteran who owns a commercial janitorial business.

Hernandez, a former Republican who is seeking public office for the first time, decided to run for Congress on the Democratic ticket after a friend suggested it. The son of sugar beet field workers who moved to Kansas in 1966, he changed his political affiliation to Democrat in June because he said he felt “disgusted” with current representation.

“I believe in the adage, ‘if you want the job done right, then do it yourself.’”

Hernandez moved to Wichita in 1979 and has a business degree from Wichita State University. He and his wife of 46 years, Karen, have two daughters and grandchildren. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1972, serving in Germany then later in Iraq with the Kansas Army National Guard during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He has worked as a stockbroker and published a Spanish-language magazine, among other jobs.

His focus is representing all constituents in the district, “not just those who belong to his political party,” he said.

“I’m a normal guy. ... I’m not a career bureaucrat or politician,” he said.

“I think I can empathize and relate to the average person in the 4th District.”

Estes, a fifth-generation Kansan raised on a family farm in Osage County, previously told The Eagle he first ran for Congress after being part of an association of treasurers that shared best practices on financial topics. Over time his focus shifted to preventing bad legislation and regulations, he has said.

Estes’ current goal for the 4th District is to bring to bear “an understanding of the issues that we face” — including inflation, high gas and grocery costs and supply chain issues that affect businesses’ ability to make and ship goods, he said — “and how to work together to make things better for all of Kansas.”

Estes has represented Kansas’ 4th District since 2017. He earned degrees in civil engineering and business administration, has held consulting and management roles in the aerospace, energy and manufacturing industries, and is married with three children, according to his website. His wife, Susan Oliver Estes, is also on November’s ballot, running for reelection to the District 87 seat in the state House.

“I believe my record of public service reflects my dedication to faith, family, religious and individual liberties, public safety and security and the sanctity of life,” Estes The Eagle.

The 4th District covers counties in south-central Kansas and includes the state’s largest city, Wichita. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are elected to two-year terms.

The election is Nov. 8. Advance voting is underway.

Inflation, population decline concerns

For Estes, “exploding inflation” is the most pressing issue facing the 4th District. He blames the rate of price increases on out-of-control federal spending, including passage of the American Rescue Plan Act (also called the COVID-19 stimulus package), a $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill signed into law in March 2021.

“They used COVID as an excuse to spend this money. What it did was jump-start inflation,” he said, adding that he voted against the act and similar bills because the spending made inflation “worse and worse.”

“Basically they’ve taken one month paycheck away from everybody. 8.3% year-over-year inflation is the equivalent of one-twelfth. So basically one-twelfth of your paycheck has been taken away in order to buy the same amount of rent, the same amount of groceries, the same amount of gas,” he said.

Asked for his thoughts on inflation, Hernandez acknowledged it is problematic; he said he supports passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.

But for him, population decline in the district is the most pressing issue.

He worries losing residents will leave Kansas with fewer congressional districts, meaning less representation at the federal level. Kansas is home to four of the country’s 435 congressional districts.

“Fifteen of the 17 counties in the 4th District lost population in the latest Census count. Our rural communities are slowly dying,” he said.

Hernandez called Estes “oblivious” to the problem and decried the “counterproductive and detrimental” votes he cast against bills meant to boost infrastructure, jobs and access to health care, food and high-speed internet in rural areas.

“Those roads and bridges, they help the farmers move their implements, their farm equipment, move their crops, (create) safer and easier access to markets,” he said.

Estes dismissed Hernandez’s claim that he’s oblivious to the issue, saying: “I tell people a lot that one of the big problems in Kansas is that we need to have continued growth in population.”

Estes attributed the decline to lack of “good business economy,” high taxes and high health care and utility costs for companies, some of which he said are using their Kansas manufacturing plants “as a last resort.”

“It’s an ongoing issue for the state and we need to make sure that we have an environment that has a strong economy so that people can get a good job and raise their family and have opportunities for their kids.”

Abortion, student loans, border security

Abortion remains a contentious topic even after primary voters in August rejected an amendment that sought to assert that the state constitution doesn’t grant a right to abortion in Kansas.

Estes, who favored the amendment, told The Eagle he thinks Congress “should enact laws that protect innocent life” and “respect the dignity and sanctity of human life.”

Hernandez supports abortion rights and suggested putting the decision solely in women’s hands, possibly through a commission of diverse women from around the country.

When it comes to President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for some borrowers, Estes thinks it’s unfair to put the responsibility of paying on “the rest of the American taxpayers.”

“People get a student loan because they want to get a college degree,” he said. “Other people want to get a loan so that they ... start their own plumbing company. Why would one get a loan written off and the other wouldn’t?”

Hernandez favors the debt relief.

“If you have an educated populace, you’re going to do much better. My attitude is educate everybody, even if the government has to pay for it,” he said.

Estes and Hernandez are divided over the U.S.-Mexico border. Estes, a proponent of securing it, blames the rapid rise in U.S. overdose deaths from illicit fentanyl on drug trafficking from Mexico.

Hernandez, meanwhile, wants well-thought-out immigration reform including “properly regulated work visas that would undoubtedly resolve the crushing labor shortage crisis,” he said.