In a bid to upstage Republican candidate Mike Pompeo, who is supported by Kansas aircraft manufacturers, Democrat Raj Goyle has focused his campaign on the aircraft workers hit hard by layoffs in Wichita's aircraft industry during the economic downturn. Goyle has the backing of union powerhouses like the AFL-CIO.
South-central Kansas is home to Cessna Aircraft, Hawker Beechcraft, Bombardier, Boeing, Spirit Aerosystems and countless parts suppliers. As such it is dubbed the "Air Capital of the World". However, following the economic crisis, public and political option derided bankers for using corporate jets, which led Citi to cancel its order for a business aircraft. Wichita has lost more than 13,000 aviation jobs since 2008, with 1,000 layoffs announced by two aircraft makers.
Both candidates have different views of how to solve the crisis but both are leveraging the real problems being felt by aviation workers for their own political ends.