Two 16-year-old boys may be too young to vote, but they say they are planning to run for governor of Kansas in next year’s election.
Tyler Ruzich, of Prairie Village, filed campaign papers with the state, just one week shy of his 17th birthday. He is a junior at Shawnee Mission North High School.
This comes only a month after another 16-year-old announced he will run for the same position.
Jack Bergenson, of Wichita, said in August that he is running for the Democratic nomination for governor.
Tyler Ruzich (left) and Jack Bergenson (right) are the two 16-year-olds who say they will run for governor of Kansas in the 2018 election
The teens are running to replace current Republican governor Sam Brownback, who has already served two terms and cannot run again
Ruzich, who considers himself a moderate Republican according to The Hutchinson News, said he contacted Bergenson about the decision.
‘Go for it, go for it,’ his opponent encouraged, said Ruzich.
If things work out for the two minor, Kansas may be getting a youthful new governor to replace the incumbent, Republican Sam Brownback.
The current governor has already served two terms and is unable to run for a third in 2018 due to term limits. That leaves the position up for grabs.
Ruzich is running as a Republican in the 2018 election, and will turn 18 right in time to vote
Bergenson says he will run as a Democrat in the 2018 election, though he won’t be old enough to vote
Oddly enough, there is no age requirement to run for governor in Kansas
To date, 16 candidates have launched campaigns for the position in 2018.
And though it may seem against some sort of regulation, Kansas has no age requirement for running for governor.
Unlike Bergenson who will be 17 for the November 2018 election, Ruzich says it will be a special one for him as he turns 18 just one month before.
Ruzich says the young candidates agree that having two teenagers in the race is an opportunity to get young people involved in politics and government.