Kansas legislators bid farewell to colleagues, share personal wisdom and warnings

Rep. Dan Goddard shares advice to legislators as he closes out his political career, telling them to slow down to achieve a more "harmonious outcome." He's shown here in a 2024 photo. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — Dan Goddard’s boyhood dream wasn’t to become a politician serving constituents in Parsons, first as a senator and then as a representative in the Kansas Legislature.

His youthful quest was to be a U.S. Air Force pilot, which he achieved during a military career spanning 24 years. He devoted 20 years to breathing economic life into closed military bases. He then turned to politics and served a decade in elective offices, including four years in the Senate and four years in the House.

“I came to Kansas without a political thought in my mind,” Goddard said last month as his final session in the Legislature came to a close. “There are some great, great people in this chamber on both sides of the aisle. I’ve made friends that I will never, ever, ever forget.”

His advice to political brethren: “Slow down, take it easy and you’ll achieve a more harmonious outcome.”

Approximately one dozen members of the Kansas House are expected to not seek reelection this year, when all 125 House seats will be up for grabs in November. Some, like Goddard, chose retirement. Three representatives altered their career path to seek statewide office rather than reelection to the House.

More names could be added to the departure roster by the noon June 1 filing deadline, including members tapped as lieutenant governor running mates for gubernatorial candidates.

The entire 40-member Senate won’t be on Kansas ballots this year, but three senators have set their sights on statewide offices. Those runs are freebies, because the 2026 election will occur in the middle of their four-year terms. If they fail, they have a Senate job to fall back on.

Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican pursuing the GOP nomination for governor, gaveled out the 2026 legislative session in April. Before bringing down the mallet, he offered a note of optimism: “I’m hopeful this is my final time to do this.”

Senate Majority Leader Chase Blasi, R-Wichita, advised senators to take one last look at those assembled in the ornate Capitol chamber.

“This is probably it, the last time this class is together,” Blasi said. “There’s a good chance some people will depart for one reason or another.”

 

Born on the 4th of July

Rep. Will Carpenter, an El Dorado Republican, said he would wrap a sixth term in the House before retiring from politics. He served two terms in the House before being defeated in 2016. He regained the House seat in 2018 and was reelected three more times.

“Nobody knows the sacrifices that you make for this job more than I do,” Carpenter told House colleagues. “Your families, your grandkids, your businesses, your jobs, your personal lives and, for some, your marriages.”

He urged current and future legislators to “treat people how you want to be treated” and remember bad decisions tended to snowball.

“All I ever wanted to do was make a difference in peoples’ lives,” said Carpenter, born July 4, 1956, in Hamilton, Kansas. “I hope and pray that somehow, someway, I’ve done that.”

Rep. Ken Rahjes, R-Agra, and Rep. Pat Proctor, R-Leavenworth, plan to step away from the Legislature to compete against each other in the August primary election for Kansas secretary of state. Secretary of State Scott Schwab is running for governor rather than reelection to a third term as the state’s top elections officer.

Rahjes, appointed to the House in 2016 and returned to Topeka to serve four more two-year terms, said his objective was to be a steady voice on behalf of rural communities. Politicians, he said, should be responsible, transparent and focused on needs of the people.

“These communities are the backbone of the state, and they deserve to be heard,” he said. “I didn’t come to Topeka seeking recognition. At the end of the day, this job isn’t about us. It’s about our constituents, our fellow Kansans.”

Proctor, who served as a U.S. Army colonel, was elected to represent Leavenworth for three terms in the House.

“Some of the best people I’ve met in my life, I’ve met in this chamber. I really mean that,” he told House peers. “Nobody’s up here doing it to get rich. Nobody’s up here doing it for the fame. Most people in our districts don’t even know who we are.”

 

Filling a seat, not shoes

For the second time, Rep Rick Wilborn, a McPherson Republican, delivered a retirement speech at the Capitol. He was a member of the Senate from 2015 to 2025, but his plan to step away from politics was altered by the death of Rep. Les Mason, who passed away in June 2024 while seeking reelection.

Wilborn agreed to file for Mason’s open seat with an understanding he wouldn’t seek a second term in the House.

“Two years ago, I gave my farewell — a fairly lengthy presentation to the Senate,” said Wilborn, who praised Mason as a deeply trusted representative. “I did not fill his shoes. I just filled his seat.”

Rep. Doug Blex, R-Independence, delivered a retirement speech that was remarkable for its brevity. He’s represented the southeast Kansas community since 2017.

“Don’t allow yourself to become a legend in your own mind,” he advised. “And, hang in there, someday it’ll be a good job.”

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican campaigning for state insurance commissioner, recalled he entered the House in 2013 along with 58 other new state representatives. He climbed the leadership ladder and held the House’s top post since 2023.

He said serving in the Legislature was a difficult challenge for someone like himself without political experience. He said he made plenty of mistakes in his first session, but dedicated himself to learning policy and process. He said serving in the House changed his life.

“When I got here, I had a pretty bad temper,” Hawkins said. “This place kind of took the temper out of me. You grow by being here.”

Hawkins recommended the House stick with a current rule forbidding anyone to serve more than four years as House speaker. His predecessor, Rep. Ron Ryckman Jr., spent three consecutive two-year terms as speaker from 2017 to 2023.

“Four years as speaker is enough,” Hawkins said. “We should never, ever have a speaker more than four years. You need new leadership.”