Mark Barlow

Mark Barlow served in the U.S. Air Force. He earned a high school diploma from Wichita Southeast High School. Barlow's career experience includes working in advocacy.[1]

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am an advocate by professional training, and an artist by design. As a millennial, I've "survived" layoffs and recessions and plagues, cultivating a checkered resume along the way built around humanitarian service to others. From early childhood care to hospice volunteerism, from federal service in both the Air Force and Department of Commerce to middle-management in retail and multiple stints with Boys & Girls Club of America, I have always sought to bring value into the work I do through helping others; being useful. In my private life as an artist, I help other wordsmiths in my community through a writers support group, and when I'm not running for election I relish the challenge of performing in community theatre. I am a survivor of complex PTSD, which is to say I've learned to cope with a host of symptoms and unhappinesses and chronic pain. These things are part of who I am now, and I use those pains to help others feel less alone with their own pain. I'm a talker, but I'm also a fervent listener. I'm patient, but I'm also raring to go. And I LOVE dogs! Ultimately, I strive to be the same person no matter where or how you find me: I'm Mark. I'm here to help YOU.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

I want to restore hope and dignity in our legislature, by being a ~human being~ in an elected office. I'm tired of our politicians comporting themselves as some kind of deity or higher-class citizen than the rest of us. Politicians should feel like librarians, and I hope to bring that kind of energy to Topeka. Part of this includes representing EVERYBODY in my constituency, not merely rich donors or corporate lobbies. I don't "care" what side of the aisle you come from; I don't "care" what your religious affiliation is; I don't "care" about your sexual or gender identity: I want to help make your life better, end of story! I support trans rights & womens rights!It's high time we hold our highest-earners accountable. We've got multibillionaires in Kansas who aren't paying their fair share, and while I'm unlikely to pass progressive taxation against the super-elites on my own, I will be a voice of support for such measures in Topeka. Our infrastructure yearns for an update. Our schools (and our teachers!) need to be bolstered with more funding. We get to a lot of these solutions by taxing the super-rich, not the working class. I'm tired of seeing every new income tax proposal being directed at working families. Enough is enough! Let's not allow the wealthiest among us to hide in the peripheral shadows any longer. Tax them.I'm going to cheat and include three points in this answer: 1) Legalize cannabis. Take it off the books. Tax it, regulate it, let consenting adults smoke it without fear of reprisal or imprisonment. End this draconian campaign against weed. 2) Art vouchers for college grads in creative fields. Let's make it easier for our art-minded graduates to find their way in life by giving them a rebate on their degrees. Let's encourage the flourishing of arts in Kansas. 3) Say it with me now: Ranked. Choice. Voting.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I intend to be a perennial thorn in the side of oligarch billionaires who think just because they were born on third base with a golden spoon in their mouth, they have the right to dictate when and how the rest of us get to pursue our happiness. I'm all for accruing personal wealth and "winning" capitalism, but as soon as you turn that wealth towards poisoning societies through propaganda mills and media-narratives, you deserve to be taxed to Kingdom Come and back. Institutional corrupting forces like the Kochs deserve to retire into one-bedroom apartments. Billionaires ought to be kept FAR, FAR AWAY from our elections, and from our politicians. Mingling dark money with public service is the scourge of our age.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

Artistically: JRR Tolkien, Leonard Nimoy

Politically: AOC, Bernie Sanders

Personally: My mom, Arin Hanson

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Authenticity and compassion. Having the cojones to speak the truth even when it might cost you some voters or support, because at the end of the day all you have is your word, which becomes your bond. I KNOW people can trust me, and THEY know they can trust me, because I'm fundamentally not afraid to speak from my heart - in fact, I'm afraid not to. I must always be me.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

To be a good steward for my constituents. To let them know when the in-house politics of Topeka make it impossible for me to do right by them, by way of poison-pilling, pork-barreling, sneaky riders, gut-and-go tactics, or other forms of unethical bundling of bills into other pieces of legislation. I want my constituents to know when unsavory politicians work against our common good. To be honest, and rational, and decent.

What legacy would you like to leave?

That I turned being dealt a problematic/difficult hand into a net-gain for humanity. That I resisted the forces of corruption which seem to all-too-often ruin political representatives, turning them into mere approximations of humanity, too inculcated by wealth and success to relate to the struggles of the normal person.

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

The Wichita Parks Department, helping to manage our population of planted trees throughout the city. It was just a summer job, but I LOVED it. Working outside, using my hands, surrounded by life.

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Loneliness. Acquiring PTSD at a relatively young age made it fiendishly difficult for me to connect with others on a personal/emotional level, since a very loud protector-part of my mind did not trust others to see the pain I was going through, nor did I wish to subject others to that pain. I'm still working on being more transparent in this arena, still struggling to find ways to let people "in" without putting myself at risk. It's a difficult dance. This is partly why I love performance theatre so much, though, as connecting my traumas to character roles allows me to "share" parts of me with an audience without necessarily exposing myself in a way I find uncomfortable. Turns out, I'm a method actor. (But don't mistake REAL method acting for the Jared Leto version of "method acting" that the news media tells you about. Real method acting is about connecting the actor's emotions to the character's, and building a partnership between the two.)

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

Working together to improve the lives of EVERY Kansan.

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Divorcing our government from oligarch dark money. Coming to peace with the fact that, yes, we need to more-fairly tax the highest-earners if we want our state to thrive.

Do you believe that compromise is necessary or desirable for policymaking?

It can be, yes. But there's also a time and place for unwavering unwillingness to compromise. I'll never compromise with oligarch shills, nor pedophiles, nor Nazis. We don't compromise with evil.

What was the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember?

The Gulf War, and specifically Operation Desert Storm, as my father was deployed into it.