Four years ago, William Clifford made Ingram’s list of “50 Kansans You Should Know.”
Well, if you don’t know the Finney County commissioner already, you might get to know him a little more in the coming weeks.
Clifford is the most recent name to surface as a possible candidate to run for the 1st Congressional District seat now held by Republican Congressman Roger Marshall.
Marshall on Saturday is expected to announce a run for the U.S. Senate at the Kansas State Fair, opening up a mad dash to replace him in the Big First.
Like all of the other potential Republican candidates, Clifford is waiting for Marshall to announce his plans before publicly committing to a congressional race.
However, the ophthalmologist acknowledged in an interview Thursday night that he is seriously looking at the race.
“I’m still in the dance with a number of supporters talking,” Clifford said.
“I suspect before Oct. 1 you’ll know everyone’s intentions, including mine. I don’t think anybody serious about this can wait past Oct. 1 to get going on fundraising and making their message known.”
Clifford, a 1976 U.S. Air Force Academy graduate who flew F-15s in Germany, was first elected to the Finney County Commission in 2014 and just won a second term last year. He also served on the Garden City Community College Board of Trustees. His wife, Jean, is a member of the Kansas Board of Education.
Clifford said he has done “plenty of soul searching” as he considers a run for the Big First, which will be open for the first time since Jerry Moran left the House to run for the U.S. Senate in 2010.
“It’s an attractive opportunity to help a lot of people,” Clifford said.
Clifford noted that he’s already involved politically, both as a Finney County commissioner and as an eye doctor who advocates for patients as a trustee for the American Academy of Opthalmology.
“It’s a very attractive opportunity for me,” he said.
The 1st District seat doesn’t come open very often. Congressman Tim Huelskamp held the seat from 2011 to 2016 before losing to Marshall.
Moran represented the district for 14 years before he was elected to the Senate in 2010 and Pat Roberts for 16 years before that.
Clifford is one of many Republican names that have been mentioned as a possible candidate to replace Marshall in Congress if he, indeed, runs for the U.S. Senate.
Others include former Lt. Gov. Tracey Mann; and state Reps. Troy Waymaster, Steven Johnson and Ken Rahjes.
Also mentioned were Dodge City Community College Trustee and businessman Gary Harshberger and National Rifle Association lobbyist Travis Couture-Lovelady.
On the Democratic side, elementary school teacher Kali Barnett is running for the seat.
