It’s officially a race.
Democrat Tom Wiggans filed paperwork with the state today to begin a campaign for Kansas Governor.
The political newcomer faces U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, a Republican, in next year’s election.
Wiggans still hasn’t spoken out about his interest in running for governor, but today a spokeswoman emailed this statement:
“Now more than ever as our state and our families deal with this difficult economic climate, we need a successful business leader in the Governor’s office.
“I have never run for political office before, but what I have done is started and managed businesses, balanced budgets and created jobs. This experience makes me the best candidate to lead our state through this financial storm, create economic growth and good-paying jobs and keep our young people in Kansas.
“Our state needs a Governor who can speak the language of business, jobs and prosperity – not a career politician like Senator Brownback who’s spent nearly 15 years in Washington, D.C. as Congress added over $7 trillion to our national debt.”Kansans deserve a full-time Governor – someone who will remain committed to the job. In 2007 while Senator Brownback was running for President, he missed thirty-one-percent of the votes cast in the Senate. Brownback had the seventh-worst attendance record of all one hundred United States Senators. If the rest of us missed work thirty-one percent of the time, we’d be fired. Yet, like too many career politicians, Sam Brownback thinks missing work ought to earn him a promotion.
“The election for Governor is nearly one year away and I look forward to hearing from thousands of Kansans about their priorities and offering voters a clear choice in the race for Governor
Never heard of Wiggans? Here you go:
Wiggans, a pharmaceutical executive, was born in Fredonia, Kan. and educated at the University of Kansas. He’s an Eagle Scout.
Most recently he was CEO of Peplin, Inc., a which is developing products for skin cancer. The corporation was recently acquired by a Danish company. He’s worked for a variety of companies before that, starting at Eli Lilly.
He’s Chairman of the Board of the Biotechnology Institute, and he’s served on the Advisory Board of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies in D.C.
Wiggans now lives in Olathe. He’s married to Kathryn Wiggans, a nurse. They have two teenage daughters, Liz and Amanda.
His public service background includes being a member of the KU Endowment Association, a member of the Kansas Innovation Consortium, an eco devo group, an advisor to the Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation at the KU Medical Center, and a member of the Advisory Board of Heartland Bioventures, the venture capital arm of the Kansas Bioscience Authority.