D1 chooses not to break off from the Union. D1 chooses even more to not join the state of Misery. I grew up in north central Kansas (population 3,000), went to high school in south central Kansas (population 7,000), and put myself through college here in north east Kansas. I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth and I watched my dad work his tail off (at one time he drove a school bus in the morning, worked a 40 plus hour a week job during the day, and ran a bowling alley at night) to raise five kids.

One more thing, D1 covers quite a bit of territory on the eastern side of the state from north to south. Please don't try to pigeon hole D1 into the Topeka to Johnson County I70 corridor.