about Jo Ann
My name is Jo Ann Roth. I am a candidate for State Representative, 113th District which is located in central Kansas; parts of Barton, Pawnee, and all of Rice, Stafford and Rush Counties.
A little about my reasons for seeking public office, I was married to Kent Roth in 1979. After experiencing infertility issues, my husband and I adopted two (2) children, now adults. Many women have shared with me their own stories of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancies and infertility. My chief reason for being active in politics is my belief we should not accept an increase in maternal deaths due to politicians denying women bodily autonomy. My core belief is equal rights for all, special privileges for none. Every Patient -- in consultation with their Doctor should make their own medical decisions, not Politicians in Topeka based on whether the patient is a man or a woman.
My husband and I reside in the Roth family home located in Ellinwood which was built by Kent’s parents, Walter and June Roth, in 1939.
I was employed by the federal government in the United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Service Agency (FSA), for a dozen years in Barton County, Kansas. I was then elected three (3) terms to the three (3) member Barton County Committee that oversees the local FSA Office and rules upon any farmer appeals. Following 9/11, I went to work with the Department of Homeland Security, Transportation Security Administration, (TSA), until my federal retirement with full benefits.
Now that I am no longer a Federal Employee under the Hatch Act, I am active in Democratic Politics as County Chair and Legislative Candidate in 2022 and again in this election.
Certainly, the saying: “if at first you don't succeed, try, try again?” has crossed my mind. When it comes to women being treated equally; I will never surrender nor will I ever give up.
My past leadership training includes. I was a member of Kansas Agriculture & Rural Leadership (KARL IV) 1998-99, touring Kansas Industries and traveling to Washington DC and South America, Chili & Argentina.
I am currently a member of Kansas Farm Bureau and grew up on a farm north of Cheyenne Bottoms; I am the daughter of Bob and Bonnie Wirth. My Dad was a full time farmer and part time Union Carpenter. I also belonged to a Labor Union, like my Father and Grandfather, when working for the Federal Government.
As I mentioned, Kent and I adopted two (2) infants; adoption has been a part of my family for over a 100 years.
My maternal Grandfather, George Walter, immigrated to this country as the Bolshevik Revolution came to a bloody end in Russia. George Walter grew up in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, near the seaport of Odessa. He became a member of the Czar’s White Guard at 15 years of age. My Grandfather was wounded during World War I, and fought in the White Army during the Czar’s final days.
As the Red Army took control, an older sibling made it possible for 19 year old George Walter to travel by ship from the port of Odessa to Tunisia. From there he made his way to Hoisington, Kansas with the help of a sponsor family, the Peter Brack family of Otis.
My Grandmother had been divorced by her first husband, Thomas Currey, who abandoned her with the three (3) young children of their marriage. She met George Walter while he was working for the Missouri Pacific Railroad in Hoisington; they married. George Walter adopted her three (3) children, the middle child being my mother.
After George began receiving Rail Road Retirement benefits he confided in me that he was always worried that the Bolsheviks might come over to this country to harm him and his family. I learned from my Grandfather, Freedom is never free; one must be willing to make sacrifices to keep his or her personal freedoms.
The People of Kansas voted overwhelmingly in August 2022 to keep personal autonomy, the right to control one’s own body, a constitutional right in Kansas. The Republican Incumbent recently emailed that a woman in a crisis pregnancy carrying a baby which cannot survive outside the womb should be required to undergo a C section delivery. Clearly, imposing this belief upon women in Kansas will lead to an increase in maternal deaths. Denying medical care until the patient is near death or mandating a surgical procedure such as a Cesarean section amounts to violence against women. Please view this video as evidence that I do not exaggerate.
This is the Incumbent’s belief even though in 2022, Kansans clearly voted to protect reproductive rights in our State Constitution. The 59% of the voters who rejected the Constitutional Amendment are my example of Democracy in Action. Legislators like the Incumbent who refuse to listen should be voted out of office.
Abraham Lincoln in his first inaugural address, about a month before Southern troops fired the first shots of the Civil War on the federal garrison at Fort Sumter said: “A majority … is the only true sovereign of a free people. Whoever rejects it, does of necessity, fly to anarchy or despotism.” My modern day translation of President Lincoln’s quote is ---Beware of Politicians who claim Majority Rule as a value, but only when they are in the majority.
I am asking you to make a sacrifice to defend Democracy by volunteering to support my campaign and making a contribution to help me win election to the Kansas House.
Most importantly, please do remember to Vote Roth and encourage at least three (3) of your friends to do same. Thank you for your attention and may God bless and keep safe the brave men and women fighting for Democracy around the World.