On Monday, May 6, John Sturn filed as a Republican candidate for state Senate District 33.

Sturn was raised on a dairy and wheat farm near Bushton. He attended rural Holy Name Grade School and graduated from Bushton High School. Sturn was one of small-town Scoutmaster Lawrence Timmons’ 40 Eagle Scouts. He graduated from Kansas State with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Sturn worked in the natural gas pipeline business as an engineer and in field operations management. He started work in Great Bend, eventually working in Omaha, and Bushton for Northern Natural Gas and in Pratt for Kansas Gas Service.

Sturn and his wife Tammy have lived and raised their family in Ellinwood. Sturn has been active in Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, youth religion classes and church groups, kids’ rec league coaching and in his church. He has served on the boards of Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Great Bend Community Theatre and as a Barton County Economic Development Planning Team member. Sturn is in his eleventh year as an Ellinwood School Board member.

Sturn said he wants to work to ensure the priorities of the schools and rural communities of the 33rd Senate District are placed ahead of the priorities of the large political lobbying organizations that are increasing their influence in Topeka. He wants to restore commonsense to the legislature.