Mark your calendars and clear your schedules: midterm elections are Tuesday.

Voting is a crucial part of upholding our democracy and it’s an easy, simple way to be involved with local politics and sway the election.

The two main candidates for Kansas governor are Republican Kris Kobach and Democrat Laura Kelly. Kobach is currently serving as Kansas Secretary of State, and has been since 2011. Laura Kelly is going on her 13th year as a Kansas state senator.

The other three candidates are Greg Orman (independent), Rick Kloos (independent) and Jeff Caldwell (libertarian).

Kobach supports lowering taxes, welfare reform and enacting term limits on legislative and statewide officials. He also supports funneling more school funding into the classroom, but that takes funding away from critical extracurriculars like sports and the arts, as well as lowering the technology budget.

He claims the funding being used for these things are not benefiting Kansas students, but he couldn’t be further from the truth.

As a student in Kansas, I can personally say that the funding for technology, which gives me a laptop, also gives me the ability to further my knowledge in topics I understand and educate me on topics I don’t outside of the classroom. Funding for the arts allows me to express myself creatively and do things I’m passionate about, such as newspaper.  

Sports funding, especially for football, brings Derby as an entire community together and gives us something we can all enjoy. Political view, race, sexuality — none of it matters on Friday nights. Football is the glue that holds our community together, and reducing funding for school sports jeopardizes that.

Kelly is in support of reforming KanCare, reversing Sam Brownback’s tax experiment and making Kansas an innovative business destination. She also plans on reinstating the Equal Protection Clause and taking steps to restore public confidence in the Kansas government.

Whether you’re voting Democrat, Republican or Independent, know your vote does matter and it is important.

“Be the change you want to see in the world” – Mahatma Gandhi