Tonganoxie- Kansas 5th Senate district candidate Steve Fitzgerald noted the absence of his opponent, Kelly Kultala (Dem, Wyandotte) at the VFW Forum in Tonganoxie saying, "This is getting to be a pattern for Mrs. Kultala. Once again, she is missing an opportunity to address voter questions but it is certainly not the first time she has missed, she has only been to 60% of these forums in this campaign. With all the other Democrat candidates here, including Representative Nancy Boyda and a Jim Slattery spokesman I just assumed she would be here at the last forum of the campaign."
Addressing the crowd Fitzgerald highlighted the clear differences between he and his opponent. "This election offers the voters a clear choice. I am for economic growth and plentiful clean electricity offered by the power plant expansion in Western Kansas. I am prolife and endorsed by Kansans for Life while my opponent is endorsed by pro-abortion Mainstream Coalition, Bluestem PAC, and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Democratic Caucus. She approves of drivers licenses and other benefits for illegal immigrants, I want all benefits for illegal’s, outside of mandated emergency room care, eliminated. My opponent wants continued increased government expansion and spending, I want to decrease both."
Continuing, Fitzgerald said: "I want to thank my opponent for mailing voters what she thought was an attack ad this week quoting me as saying 'I am against increased education spending' and then referred voters to my own website. Her mail-out and my quote are entirely accurate, and please do go to my website to read my detailed education and spending positions. I guess her thinking is that increased spending, on anything, particularly education, is always the answer.
It is documented Kansas-wide that we are not getting improved results throwing money at the problem. In fact, the past 3 years we increased spending and we got worse student performance. We need to be smarter at how we spend and make sure we are getting the results we are paying for. As a member of the Leavenworth School Board, I know Kansans spend plenty on education in Kansas. Leavenworth School District has made substantial improvements while reducing the number of positions and other efficiencies all while holding the line on the budget. While there is still a lot to do this proves that it can be done and needs to be done across Kansas.
"I don't like defining my opponent's positions, but when she doesn't show up to forums and doesn't have any substantive information on her website the voters need to know the clear differences between us to be able to make an informed choice on election day." said Fitzgerald.
More information can be viewed at www.vote4fitzgerald.com
