As a resident of the Big First Congressional District for more than 40 years, one of the more difficult changes — at least from our perspective — has been the election of hyper partisan politicians to represent us in Washington.

Keith Sebelius, a Norton attorney, represented the district when we moved here in 1972. He considered himself a conservative and that was fine. Sebelius still managed to represent the entire district. The same could be said for those who followed him — Pat Roberts and then Jerry Moran, both now U.S. senators. We certainly didn’t agree with them on every issue, but we knew they would listen, always with an ear for what they considered best for the Big First.

Then came Tim Huelskamp and Roger Marshall and the art of listening became a part of the district’s history. Huelskamp and Marshall talked to the voters who elected them. End of story.

These were a few of our thoughts as the state’s Republican candidates for the U.S. Senate seat held by Roberts debated in front of a standing-room only crowd Saturday at the 2020 Kansas Republican Party Convention. It was more of the same, only worse.

There was discussion about immigration, health care and other issues of importance to Kansans. However, the most pressing matter for candidates Marshall, former Secretary of State Kris Kobach and state Senate President Susan Wagle appeared to be who was the most conservative and would be President Donald Trump’s most loyal foot soldier in the U.S. Senate.

As reported by Jim McLean of the Kansas News Service:

“Claiming that he’s voted with the president 98 percent of the time during his two terms in the U.S. House, Marshall pledged to ‘keep standing beside this president to stop the left’s socialist agenda.’

“Kobach’s booth at the convention included a cutout of the president ... Marshall and Kobach have personal relationships with Trump, and both claimed to have met with him recently. Wagle can’t say that, so she touted her record as a leader in both the Kansas House and Senate.”

Perhaps it’s because of those personal relationships that Marshall and Kobach each pulled pages from President Trump’s playbook.

Again from the Kansas News Service:

“Kobach also criticized Marshall for his May 2019 op-ed in the Kansas City Star that called for a stop to Trump’s tariff war due to the effects on Kansas farmers.

“It’s critical that the president have people who have his back,” Kobach said.“He cannot have Midwestern congressmen shooting arrows at his back when he’s trying to hold firm with China.”

“That drew another heated response from Marshall: “That’s exactly what the national press does … they grab one little excerpt and spin it into a great big lie.”

To his credit, Marshall promised to try and bridge the partisan divide by continuing to build personal relationships with Democrats at weekly prayer meetings attended by members of both parties.

Unfortunately, given Marshall’s devotion to the president, it’s hard to see how he plans to turn talk into action — especially when all three candidates seem more determined to represent the president than they do the state they hope will send them to Washington.