KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Northeast Kansas City, Kansas, and Wyandotte County residents will have the chance to vote for the Kansas State Senate District 4 seat in Tuesday’s primary election.
The candidates for this seat, current Senator David Haley and Ephren Taylor III, are both Democrats.
There are no Republicans running, meaning Tuesday’s race will determine the winner.
Rachel Henderson/KSHB 41
Both candidates have pledged to address Wyandotte County’s ongoing property tax issue, which residents have increasingly vocalized in the past few months.
Despite Haley serving in the Kansas State Senate for nearly 30 years, this primary election is a new experience for both Haley and Taylor.
Rachel Henderson/KSHB 41
“I am excited that we’re having a primary,” Haley said. “It’s been a long time since anyone; see, no one locally has challenged me; I normally win my primary because people know me in the area.”
Taylor, 20, says while his age is often brought up, he doesn’t see it as a weakness.
Rachel Henderson/KSHB 41
“With being a young person, there’s a lot of things that you can bring to the table because we’re going to be having new ideas,” he said. “We know how to use our resources in a way to build policy more efficiently. We also have the energy to get things done.”
His opponent’s certainly feeling that energy, and he says it’s healthy motivation this election.
Despite being newer to the area, Taylor’s not new to politics.
He’s currently a community organizer with Loud Light, a group with a focus of increasing youth civic participation in Kansas.
Rachel Henderson/KSHB 41
“He’s been able to make it competitive, it is competitive,” Haley said. “This is competitive because we have someone with bright ideas, new ideas, who’s hitting all the right notes thematically of what a better, more robust Kansas could look like.”
When he says “locally,” he means a fellow Wyandotte County native.
While Taylor is from the Kansas City area, he’s new to Wyandotte County, something Haley says matters.
“I think many people here will tell you they know David Haley, they know that David Haley is helpful and accessible and brings real leadership every year,” Haley said.
To make up for the lack of familiarity, Taylor says he’s spent months door-knocking in the neighborhood to get to know residents.
Rachel Henderson/KSHB 41
“Often times, I’ll knock on people’s door, and I’ll be surprised that they don’t even know who David Haley is,” Taylor said. “I’m like, how have you been here for 30 years, and that’s the case?”
Haley cites the Kansas Senate’s Republican super majority as the reason behind what he admits was minimal progress thus far regarding property tax relief.
“I, having been in all these years, have very little ability to implement anything,” Hayley said. “It’s because we have a Democratic governor, may of our initiatives get through at all. That’s just a sad but honest reality.”
He’s taken a less partisan stance in the state senate, something he says has been somewhat effective in making change.
“I have worked across the aisle,” Haley said. “I consider ideals not as Republican or Democrat, but what’s in the best interest of first and foremost, the 4th district.”
Taylor, on the other hand, says he’s not afraid to take a progressive approach to solving the property tax issue.
“I’m generally a fan of taxes cause they allow us to fund services, but we shouldn’t be taxing people that have the least amount to pay,” Taylor said. “This should be a more progressive system, so I’d like to replace it with something like a land value tax, which tends to be progressive.”
He’s also suggested expanding the Homestead Tax Credit so more people can qualify.
“We need to update it because the requirements you have to fill, like you have to be really old and be really, really low income, potentially disabled, and you know, it’s not like those are the only people struggling with housing costs,” he said. “Everyone is.”
Both candidates say they’re open to working with local government on the issue, as the Unified Government has taken a lot of heat on the property tax issue.
“The UG should focus on policies like rezoning places to account for whether it be public housing, mixed income housing or things like doing like a land value tax because that’s more progressive than property taxes right now,” Taylor said.
Hayley says he’s talked with Mayor Tyrone Garner on the issue and that the state has been crucial in the past for things like relief for senior citizens or COVID funds, but he also wants to be honest, he says.
“I’d push for a cap on property taxes, but it’s not feasible necessarily that it can be done,” Hayley said. “I don’t think we want to give false hope.”
Ultimately, voters will be the ones to determine who they want as their next problem solver come Tuesday.
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