Kansas Now Has 2 Teens Running for Governor

It's a long shot, but it's possible that when Kansas voters pick a governor next November, they will choose between two candidates whose combined age is currently 32. That's because a second teenager has joined the race. Tyler Ruzich, a 16-year-old junior at Shawnee Mission North High School (and part-time grocery store clerk), announced that he is running as a Republican, reports the Hutchinson News. Ruzich says he was inspired to do so by 16-year-old Jack Bergeson's decision to run as a Democrat. (Kansas has no age restriction for candidates.)

“I thought that was just so cool that someone my age was doing that," Ruzich tells the Kansas City Star, which notes that the two teens spoke by phone. "He really started to tell me, well, why aren’t you throwing your hat in the race?'" Ruzich, for the record, describes himself as a "Republican for the next generation" and places himself in the party's moderate wing. In fact, he backed Rand Paul in the 2016 election, though he wasn't old enough to vote. He's got one advantage over Bergeson: Of the two of them, only Ruzich will be old enough to vote in the 2018 general election; he turns 18 on Sept. 25, 2018. (More Kansas stories.)