Blake Carpenter is like a political rags-to-riches story, according to Kenneth Ciboski, associate professor of political science at Wichita State University. Four years ago, Carpenter was a typical college freshmen from a small Kansas town, and his concerns were a 19-year-old’s. Today he’s a freshman once again – this time in the Kansas House of Representatives.

Carpenter, 23, grew up in Halstead and enrolled in Wichita State to study entrepreneurship. He completed his degree in December, but what set him on the unexpected path to a political career was Ciboski’s American Politics course his sophomore year. With a growing interest in governance, Carpenter joined the WSU College Republicans and eventually became the group’s chair. It was a later class assignment to interview a state representative, however, that launched him into the public forum.

For the class, Carpenter spoke to his own state representative, Jim Howell, who was planning to step down from his seat in the Kansas House. During their conversation, Carpenter admitted that he was thinking about running for office himself one day.

“But not now,” he said. “Probably not until I’m in my 30s.”

Howell had a different idea: “Why not just do it now?”

Campaigning

During the run-up to the 2014 election, Carpenter had the benefit of Howell’s experience and Ciboski’s wisdom to draw on.

“What I said to him was yeah, ‘you’re the kind of person I could send to the door,’” Ciboski said, “and I wouldn’t say that about everybody. I told him he could win it by going door-to-door. I told him people would be impressed that a young man like him was running for State Legislature. And I was right.”

Ciboski has been teaching political science at WSU since 1968. His past students have included former Wichita mayor Bob Knight and Mark Parkinson, the 45th governor of Kansas. Carpenter took his mentor’s advice, and hit the pavement with enthusiasm last summer.

District 81 includes the top third of Derby, Oaklawn, Plainview and part of south Wichita, and his door-to-door activities in that area came on top of being a new husband, a full-time college student and, of course, his job at WSU’s National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR). Every evening, he said, he’d knock on doors for four or five hours. On some Saturdays, Carpenter would start walking at 10:30 a.m. and wouldn’t stop until 7 p.m.

“It was a big learning experience,” he said. “I ended up getting a lot of information and knowledge in the last few months, going out and talking to voters to learn their stories.”

Carpenter said that for one of those conversations, he stood on a man’s porch in the cold and darkness for two hours, talking and listening.

“It was a great conversation,” he said. “I still remember exactly where he lives. It’s those kinds of experiences I’ve gotten the most out of, and I know that in two years I’m going to go back and talk to him about what I’ve been doing in Topeka. I’m accountable for that.”

Topeka

Ciboski laughs when he recalls Carpenter on election night.

“He was so nervous – I don’t think he could believe that he won.”

With a platform promoting the Second Amendment, family values, education and economic responsibility, Carpenter defeated opponent Lynn Wells (D-Derby) with 61 percent of the vote, making him the youngest legislator in the state.

According to his old professor, Carpenter needs some seasoning, but he has a lot of potential.

“I think the main thing is he’s honest,” Ciboski said. “He’s trustworthy. I think he’ll pay attention and listen to his constituents. He’s a person of good character and he’s humble, which will serve him very well.”

Carpenter said that nothing could have prepared him for the rigors of campaigning, but his time at Wichita State did prepare him to lead.

“The Center for Entrepreneurship provided a lot of leadership training, and that really geared me up,” he said. “People want entrepreneurs in office – they want new solutions, especially in the current political climate.”

Carpenter isn’t taking his victory for granted, however. When asked about his ambitions beyond the State Legislature, he says he’s focused on the task at hand.

“Professor Ciboski always says that 24 hours is like a year in politics, because everything is constantly changing,” Carpenter said. “I’m still interested in opening my own business down the road, but right now I want to keep the promises I made on people’s doorsteps.”

Ciboski, however, was happy to look ahead.

“Frankly, I think he could go quite a long away in politics,” he said. “I don’t know if he’d want to run for a United States House seat, but I can see him going to the Kansas State Senate probably, down the road, where he’ll be one voice of 40 instead of 125.”

Carpenter acknowledges that he’s got a big job ahead, but he’s looking forward to it.

“I love politics,” he said. “I love talking about it with family and friends. This is a big process, and there’s going to be a big learning curve. But it’ll be fun.”