Get to know: Anne Parelkar Democratic candidate running for U.S. Senate for Kansas
KANSAS, (KQTV) -- Anne Parelkar is a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Kansas. She has never held elected office before, but she is an attorney, a historian, and an immigration lawyer.
"I spent the first four years under this administration really rough as an immigration lawyer, married to an immigrant, with a lot of friends in the immigrant community," Parelkar said. "We made it through that. Then when he went again, I started questioning how people that I know and respect could vote for someone that I understand to be very bad for our country. I was calling my senators, going to protests, doing all the things I was supposed to do. And of course they were ignoring us. It felt like they didn't care about us."
Parelkar says the moment that pushed her to run was when Senator Roger Marshall left at the Oakley town hall a year ago.
"I took that as a slap in the face to the voters of Kansas," Parelkar said. "I'm a historian, I'm an attorney, and I take my oath to our Constitution seriously. He's supposed to work for the people that were in that room. He owed those people that day to speak with us. He didn't want to hear from anyone else. I came home and tried to find a way to recall him, but there's no way to do it. So I said, I have to do something. This was something I could do. I can certainly do a better job than the people that are up there right now."
On immigration, Parelkar says the current approach is "tearing families apart" and "terrorizing communities," and she wants an independent investigation into ICE.
"They're tearing families apart," Parelkar said. "U.S. citizens are afraid to leave their homes. People are walking around with their passports. Native Americans are afraid. This is terrorizing communities. What's happening with them right now is just cruelty. We are actively creating undocumented immigrants by ending TPS in certain countries. People that are here legally are then automatically undocumented. Nobody has a problem getting violent criminals off our streets. We're all on board for that. But this has broken trust between law enforcement and communities."
Parelkar shared the story of two Kansas moms she met at a vigil outside the CoreCivic Detention Center in Leavenworth.
"The moms were bringing their kids to see their dads," Parelkar said. "They look like me, just as Kansas as can be. U.S. citizens born here. One had three kids, the other had six, ranging from babies to 12 years old. Both were in the process of getting green cards for their husbands, who were now detained. Neither had criminal records. One has probably already been deported and won't be back for more than four years. The other is still fighting it. We're just taking dads away from their families. It's unconscionable."
Beyond immigration, Parelkar identifies healthcare, cost of living, and Social Security as top issues.
"Health care is a huge one," Parelkar said. "Cost of living is a huge one. I want to enforce our antitrust laws and bust up monopolies. Create a market where small businesses can thrive, that will bring consumer pricing down. Prices are controlled by just a handful of companies across farming, health care, technology. Most people, especially older folks, are worried about Social Security. That's an easy fix. We stop the contribution limit. Nobody should be done paying in four minutes into the new year while the rest of us pay the entire year."
On division and corruption, Parelkar says politicians use hot-button issues to keep Americans fighting each other instead of solving problems.
"As a historian, throughout history when citizens turn on each other, that's when the worst things start to happen," Parelkar said. "We've all been manipulated and lied to. They could solve these problems if they wanted to, but they don't want to because then they won't have something to keep us divided and something to run on. We've got to demand our politicians stop using people and communities as political pawns."
Parelkar says she's not a typical politician, but fights for what she believes in.
"I'm honest," Parelkar said. "I'm not your typical politician. I was not created by consultants to do this. We've done the most with the least amount. We really are just a movement of, by, and for the people. It's time to give this government back to the people, and that's what we're going to fight for."
