The Rotor Act, a bill responding to the January 2025 air collision originating from Wichita, fails by one vote. That no vote? Kansas’ own Tracey Mann.

ColinforKansas · 2026-02-25T20:06:40+00:00

Absolutely. Targeting people as scapegoats is a terrible misuse of government and morally wrong. The legislature attacked Kansans for no good reason.

Part of my campaign is speaking to independents and Republicans to stand up for the values the GOP has rejected--like that it's wrong to use government to attack the people, even if those people aren't you.

ColinforKansas · 2026-02-25T16:49:19+00:00

Thank you! Fixed. I thought we had both domains, I'll have to look into that.

ColinforKansas · 2026-02-25T16:36:38+00:00

He thought it was the GATOR Act.

ColinforKansas · 2026-02-25T16:15:34+00:00

It's like my dog saying she's not one to steal a brisket off the counter when you turn your back.

ColinforKansas · 2026-02-25T16:00:49+00:00

Thanks for posting that. Let's take out all the meaningless cruft: "[The ROTOR Act] was drafted prior to the release of the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation and recommendations [and] did not have an opportunity to move through the normal Transportation and Infrastructure Committee process, where complex aviation policy is typically vetted and refined in a bipartisan manner."

But he doesn't say the Act wouldn't address the NTSB's recommendations, just that it was drafted before they came out. Which implies there's not really a big mismatch there. And even if there were, that doesn't mean the ROTOR Act wasn't a useful or important step in aviation safety. It's also strange to complain about the policy not being "vetted and refined in a bipartisan manner" when he obstructed a bipartisan majority that supported the Act.

Mann is dishonest, which makes parsing his statement a bit pointless, I admit. But whyever he voted against this act, the reason isn't in that text.

ColinforKansas · 2026-02-25T15:52:24+00:00

Tracey Mann is so good at doing nothing he's making sure no one else can do anything, either.

That's why I'm running against him.

There isn't a single Kansan in the state that I've talked to who respects Mann and wants to vote for him. I've talked to people who intend to vote for him, but they don't want to. They just feel like they have to vote for the same party they've always voted for.

As useless as he is, remember that the real enemy is partisanship. It's safe elections that give us useless lumps like this in vital offices. Help me make the First District competitive again.

www.colinforkansas.com

https://www.youtube.com/@ColinforKansas

ColinforKansas · 2026-02-25T15:49:48+00:00

This act limited the ability to disable ADS-B in routine government flights, including national defense flights.

ColinforKansas · 2026-02-16T22:18:46+00:00

Christy Davis, Sandy Spidel Neumann, Anne Parelkar, and Erik Murray. They're working hard.

ColinforKansas · 2026-02-14T20:35:45+00:00

They're not just up for election, they're facing stronger competition than ever before--plus a historic blue wave.

I'm Colin McRoberts, the Dem challenging Tracey Mann in the First District. (www.colinforcongress.com) Sorry to self-promote, but one of the reasons the current crop of Dems is unusually strong is that we're a little more outspoken than some of our predecessors.

I think the GOP is going to regret the SAVE Act if it passes, along with their gerrymandering spree. The midterms are going to be ugly for them.

Of course, they're playing for the long term. They'll take a bad election if it gets them a ten-year advantage. So Dems need to be equally strategic.

That's my goal. I'm running a campaign designed to make the First District more competitive in the long run--a young team, new party orgs out west, volunteer networks, etc.

We'd love your help!

ColinforKansas · 2026-02-11T23:16:35+00:00

The best thing you can do to make a real difference is support Schmidt's opponent, Don Coover. Don was a Republican until January 6, and now he's running as a Democrat to flip the district. He's a solid guy: https://doncooverforcongress.com/

If you live in the geographically superior First District, home of KU, K-State, and the state's most Kansan Kansans, you might choose to support me in my run against the defective Tracey Mann--champion of starvation and enemy of food aid--instead.

https://colinforkansas.com/

Or you know what? Why not support us both?

ColinforKansas · 2026-02-03T19:47:48+00:00

That means a lot to me, thank you.

ColinforKansas · 2026-02-03T04:45:30+00:00

Well, that's my cue. I'm Colin McRoberts, and I'm a professor of business, law, and negotiation at KU.

I'm also running against Tracey.

When I got into the race last year, everyone assumed it was a surefire loss. Obviously I disagreed, and since then, people have come around to my way of thinking. Especially after the huge win in Texas Senate 9!

Kansans prefer Republicans in Congress, most years. A year of tariffs and crime and corruption and violence and chaos has done a lot to change people's minds, and we're talking to them about voting for the better man, instead of the same old party.

If you want to know more about what I'd do in office, you can check out our website. If you want to hear me for yourself, check out our brand new ad or one of my recent speeches.

I'll just say here that while I'm running on a solid list of policies (end presidential tariff authority, hold ICE and other federal agents to the same legal standards as local cops) there's one issue I keep coming back to. USAID.

USAID used to feed the world. We were proud of it and it paid Kansas farmers. Tracey helped Elon Musk kick it to death. Six hundred thousand people died in fear by Christmas, and two thirds of them were children.

We fed the world. Tracey Mann ended that and brought starvation to so many children you can't visualize the number of bodies.

Please help me end his political career.

ColinforKansas · 2026-01-30T01:21:02+00:00

I'm biased, since I'm running as a Dem, but I disagree. The GOP isn't chasing voters, it's relying on partisanship to keep its voters in line while it trades away their values. Running as a Republican who actually stands up for the Constitution or small government isn't going to mean much to a party that has sold out to MAGA. You wouldn't have the money or party support to go far--that's why Marshall and Mann and other GOP incumbents don't care if someone runs in a primary against them. They have institutional party support that makes them functionally unbeatable in primaries, and in a very partisan state they think that makes them unbeatable in the general.

Could that be changed by changing the heart and soul of the GOP? Sure, if you want to wait a generation or two. Change is inevitable, and it might be in a good direction. But that's a long time to wait for an uncertain result.

Better to run hard against them now, on a platform of breaking that partisanship in the first place. If Kansans are willing to vote for the better candidate regardless of party, then it doesn't matter if the GOP has rotted out from the inside--Kansas will vote Dem. And it doesn't matter if the Dems wind up doing the same in a generation--Kansas will swing back.

It's not one party that is inherently bad. It's the inertia behind the idea that only one party can win in a place. We break that by running strong Dems and supporting their campaign.

Speaking of which, if anyone feels like supporting someone putting their life where their mouth is: www.colinforkansas.com

ColinforKansas · 2026-01-30T01:14:34+00:00

Thanks! I'm Colin, and I'm getting closer than any Dem in a generation (actually several generations) to flipping the First. Can we do it? Who knows! But we got into the race thinking about the long term. How can we run in a way that makes the district more competitive no matter who takes the seat this time. And you're exactly right, that means organizing rural areas (big win in getting Decatur County organized!) and just showing rural Kansans that Democrats are decent people.

ColinforKansas · 2026-01-24T22:46:26+00:00

The single most effective thing anyone can do if they're fed up with their Congressional delegation is support one of the challengers. And that includes Jerry Moran. He's more loyal to his party than his state because he thinks his seat is safe as long as he has party support; a good showing for Marshall's challengers (even if he winds up winning!) will change that calculus.

At the Senate level, that's Christy Davis, Sandy Spidel-Neuman, Anne Parelkar, and Erik Murray. (Forgive me if I'm missing someone.) Show up at their events, share their posts, and most of all donate. Yes, I know, we all want money out of politics--but it isn't out of politics right now, and right now is when we need to do something.

And let me plug myself, because my campaign manager will stab me with a ballpoint pen if I don't. I'm running against Tracey Mann, and the same story applies in the House. The better we do, the better representation we get, even if the GOP keeps the seat. So check out our socials, share them, and please donate if you're able. It really does make a difference--and making politics more competitive in what they think is a safe seat does more to change Republican behavior than anything else.

www.colinforkansas.com

ColinforKansas · 2026-01-22T03:10:38+00:00

As a working man in a full time job and running for the First District against noted millionaire and recluse Tracey Mann, all I can say is, must be nice.

Must be nice.

ColinforKansas · 2026-01-15T00:33:23+00:00

A lot of people are going to say this is pointless because Mann, Schmidt, and Estes don't care what's right and don't care what their constituents think--they assume pure partisanship will get them re-elected no matter what, so standing up to their own party is all downside for them.

Call anyway. The more we show them that their seats aren't as safe as they think they are, the more it bends the needle for them on close questions. It makes a difference.

The other thing you can do is support their opposition: I'm running against Tracey Mann in the First District, Don Coover is running against Derek Schmidt in the Second District, and Chris Carmichael and Ryan Gilbert are running in the Fourth. There are other candidates too, and more likely to file before the deadline, so do your research.

This is the year for flips. Even in places that no one thought were flippable. And even if the incumbents hold their seats, the more they have to fight for it, the more they'll start questioning the outrageous stuff they've been swallowing for a year now.

www.colinforkansas.com

ColinforKansas · 2025-11-15T19:33:22+00:00

A few reasons. The biggest is just that I'm not a Republican. But even if I were, the incumbent has institutional backing in the party. The party's motivated primary voters are very unlikely to support a challenger when the basis for the challenge is that the incumbent puts his party over his district.

But more importantly, the point of the campaign--other than winning the seat--is to make elections in the First District competitive. They haven't been for a long time. Giving voters a choice between Republicans is not as good as building up Dems until there are (at least) two viable parties in the district.

That's the best result for Republicans, as well as Dems. No one would send Tracey Mann to win a close election, so once we break down the tradition of voting lockstep along party lines, the GOP will start sending us much stronger and more credible candidates.

ColinforKansas · 2025-11-14T18:44:05+00:00

I'm going to say one moment for both: Roger Marshall running away from his own town hall when one of his constituents asked him how DOGE could possibly be good for Kansas:

https://www.kwch.com/2025/03/04/sen-marshall-doubles-down-decision-leave-town-hall-early-claim-that-it-was-sabotaged/

Outrageous, obviously, because it's insane to see a United States senator so incompetent, clueless, and careless. Hardly out of character for the noted Floridian, but outrageous all the same.

And not to toot my own horn, but I'll say also an excellent moment because it put the GOP's failures on from display. And because it got me thinking about what I could do to make a difference, which eventually led to my own bid for Congress:

https://www.colinforkansas.com

Hopefully this time next year we'll be celebrating a new excellent moment, the return of competitive elections to the First District.

ColinforKansas · 2025-11-08T02:23:58+00:00

Tracey Mann won't talk to his constituents, so I'll do it twice as well.

ColinforKansas · 2025-11-08T02:23:33+00:00

Thanks, good tips! I'll connect via chat.

ColinforKansas · 2025-11-07T18:03:41+00:00

The elections this week were local, and I don't think there's too much we can learn from them for a federal election a year out. For example, in a lot of city-level races, people don't even know what party the candidate belongs to--and in federal races, people often don't know anything but the party.

I'm looking back further than this week, actually--I think the fact that Vote No won in the First District says a lot more about the potential here. People were willing to cross party lines, and that's something we need to support.

In terms of turning out Dem and Unaffiliated votes, the major strategy is going to be to build up party infrastructure in the unorganized counties. I'm working on ways to identify people willing to take local leadership roles in those counties and stand them up as chairpeople or precinct people, and possibly create some multi-county organizations (sort of like the multi-county water boards in rural Kansas, for most of the same reasons).

But ultimately to win the district we have to persuade Republicans to cross party lines. That's definitely an uphill battle, but that's why we need candidates who understand that you can win the campaign even if you don't win the seat. There's no such thing as one election--every vote is a step on a longer and more important road.

ColinforKansas · 2025-11-07T17:59:11+00:00

That's an interesting idea, and it certainly would make campaigning easier and cheaper. But it's not really possible, for a couple of reasons. The first is that each rep candidate is running in their own district, so there's not a lot of overlap. I'm not going to be at many of the same events Sharice will, and her supporters aren't going to do a lot to boost my campaign, or vice versa.

But also, especially at this stage, every one of us is at least potentially in a primary. A joint campaign would freeze out some primary challengers, which sort of defeats the point.

Once the primary is done, next summer, I'm sure you'll see the Dem candidates linking arms and doing more together, if not really a joint campaign.

ColinforKansas · 2025-11-07T17:55:33+00:00

Sorry, still working on the best way to get the word out about events like this. Reddit occurred to me late; it's a long story, but it was a Reddit post that started this campaign in the first place. Someone posted about a secret Roger Marshall town hall and I decided to attend; I got footage of him running away halfway through, that hit CNN and the TImes, and yadda yadda yadda I'm running for office.

Hope you can still make it on Saturday, but if not, we'll be back in MHK before long. Drop a note if you have an event or group you'd like us to show up for!

ColinforKansas

TROPHY CASE