(Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Former Kansas center, 2008 national champion, Matt Kleinmann, is running for Congress.

Kleinmann states on his website, that his “mission is to strengthen Kansas communities, making them healthier and more supportive for all.”

In addition, the Democratic candidate stated he knows the value of labor and wants to build a stronger Kansas that works for everyone.

“I am running for Congress because I have spent my career building up communities alongside working-class Kansans, and I know the values that define us, Kleinmann stated on his website.

“We know the value of our labor, we show love to our neighbors, and we’ve leaned on each other through the good times and the bad. But right now, the needs of everyday Kansans are overlooked in a national agenda that doesn’t address our unique challenges. Our hospitals are struggling, our rents are rising, our schools and teachers are under attack, and our workers are left behind by laws that favor big corporations.”

He continued, “As Kansans, we must turn away from extremism and start building bridges. Between our rural towns and city streets, we have more in common than we realize. We can build a stronger Kansas that works for everyone, no matter who they are or where they are from.”

Kleinmann, an Overland Park native, was an invited walk-on for the Kansas men’s basketball team from 2004-2009. Kleinmann was on the 2008 National Championship-winning team. The former 6-foot-10 center played 70 games with the Jayhawks.

While Kleinnmann was at Kansas, he studied Architecture and was a five-time member of the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll and Big 12 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

Kleinmann says that, while he grew up a Republican, he is now “a little terrified of a vision of America that wants to take the rights away from people,” and began to identify a number of ways he believes he is different from his GOP rivals.

“I don’t believe the 2020 election was stolen,” Kleinmann said. “I believe climate change is real. I believe working families deserve a raise. I believe we need to take care of our children with better child care options, and I believe we need to take care of our seniors so that they can age in place with dignity.

“I believe that local issues we can find common ground on. I know the immigration system is broken, but I don’t believe Kansas is a border state. I believe we have things in our own backyard that we need to fix. And I think that working on what unites us is better than trying to divide us.”