The youngest legislator in the Kansas House of Representatives was once the ringleader of some of the most thrilling airsoft shootouts on the Wichita State campus.

Before devoting his life to politics, Blake Carpenter — a December graduate of Wichita State — spent his free time playing first-person shooter games such as Call of Duty and Halo. Carpenter would then use similar shooting techniques when playing airsoft with a group of friends at the Heskett Center.

“When I was a sophomore there wasn’t anything to do in the dorms,” said Carpenter, 23. “I decided to start up a airsoft team on campus. Airsoft is a game similar to paintball but instead of shooting paint, players would shoot plastic BBs. It’s a lot safer than paintball, but the guns look more realistic.”

Carpenter has long since put the video and airsoft games behind him for a more lucrative passion.  Prior to graduating in December, Carpenter got married and campaigned his way to becoming the youngest legislator in the Kansas House of Representatives, something he didn’t foresee happening until his late 30’s.

Political beginnings

Carpenter’s interests in politics began when he turned on the radio.

There he heard his first political debate and said he instantly became intrigued. The more he listened to the radio, his interest grew until he eventually joined the College Republicans and changed his major to political science.

“I think attending WSU was a great preparation and was instrumental in helping prepare me because of the broad base of politics that are taught,” Carpenter said. “The political science classes there were great. Everything up until this point has been what I expected it to be, because the classes I took on campus were very informal.”

As Carpenter’s interest in politics intensified, he began weighing in on political issues with anyone who would listen.

Carpenter’s passion caught the eye of professor Ken Ciboski. Ciboski taught several of Carpenter’s classes, but it was in his political science and legislative politics classes that he noticed how driven Carpenter was.

“Blake was a serious student,” Ciboski said. “He was never late nor did he miss any classes. I can recall the time I noticed him developing a great interest in politics. His intense interests and focus on politics made him different. I think that was a big thing.”

Ciboski required each student in his legislative politics class to interview a member of the Kansas House of Representatives for a class project. Carpenter interviewed then-Derby representative Jim Howell, who convinced him that running for legislative didn’t have to be put off until he was “old enough.”

Twist of fate

In the course of the interview, Carpenter learned that Howell was looking for a successor.

“When Jim told me he hasen’t been able to find a replacement, I told him someday I was going to run when I was 30 or 40,” Carpenter said. “He replied ‘Why not now?’ That’s something that never crossed my mind until that moment.”

What happened next was a dramatic role reversal. A simple class interview turned into a four- to five-hour session of Howell vetting Carpenter on his political ideologies.

“He went through the Republican platform and went down the list and wanted to hear my thoughts,” Carpenter said. “He wanted to know where I stood on physical issues in particular.”

 After their discussion, Carpenter had convinced Howell that he’d found his new replacement. Carpenter walked out of the interview with more than a school project.

He left with a cosign.

Howell is serving as the District 5 Sedgwick County Commissioner and said he remembers vividly of what his first impressions of Carpenter were.

“Blake is young but he is very serious,” Howell said. “He understood the politics around issues. He’s mature for his age. He’s energetic and he immerses himself into the role of being a representative of the people.”

It was advice that has stuck with Carpenter.

“I just encouraged him to realize it’s not as hard as it seems,” Howell said. “I think people doubt themselves and believe they don’t have a lot to offer. The reality is that the people that run for these positions are like everybody else. They care about the issues and care about making a difference.”

After the interview Carpenter knew he found his niche. He was going to run as Howell’s eventual predecessor.

Finding balance

Everything was a matter of balance for Carpenter. In the fall semester he was balancing school, work, campaigning and marriage.

It’s been a full year since Carpenter married his wife in December 2013. He said she, along with friends and professors, such as Ciboski, have been conducive in his success thus far.

“He talked to me about running,” Ciboksi said. “He asked me what I thought about it. I told him, ‘I think you can win it. Yes, you’re young but I think you can win.’ I gave him a list of things he would encounter to help prepare him, along with things he would need to do to win.”

One of those things was to go door-to-door and get acquainted with the citizens of Wichita.

Carpenter spent hours going house to house last summer and fall,  sometimes visiting the same house up to three times, something Ciboski said would be excessive but will increase his chances of winning.

“What Blake found out was that residents would see him as a young person, and were impressed,” Ciboksi said. “I told him, ‘You’re the kind of person I would send to the door.’ I know people in this town and I knew he wouldn’t have any problems.”

Meaning: Carpenter’s clean-cut, well-dressed manner would be appealing to residents in Wichita. Carpenter is eloquent and knows how to relate politics to individual lives, a trait that led to him winning more than 61 percent of the votes during the election.

“He won handily,” Ciboski said. “I recall he was nervous. I think it hit him that he won and now he would have to serve in Topeka. It was probably difficult to think he was just a student two months ago and now he’s in office.”

‘Just being humble’

Since Carpenter has been in office, not many adjustments have been made on his behalf. He said he didn’t move to Topeka with the notion he was going to change the entire system right way.

“Because I’m young, I didn’t go up there thinking everyone was going to love me or I was the best thing since sliced bread,” Carpenter said. “I’m just being humble and I found that when you give respect you get it back.”

Other than getting his own parking spot, there hasn’t been any luxurious perks for being the youngest in office. At the moment, Carpenter has his mind focused on dedicating his weekdays to his job and driving several hours back to Derby on the weekends to see his wife.

“Most of us representatives have to drive two to six hours to get to the capital Monday through Friday, which makes it tough for us to see our families,” Carpenter said. “It definitely takes work to balance my marriage because of that. I’m glad it’s only part-time. It’s only 90 days and after 90 days we live out lives in a normal state. Next year when January comes around we start the cycle again. It’s just a big balancing act.”

Though Carpenter is young, he isn’t short on goals. Only two months in office, Carpenter has launced a plan to remedy several key issues in Kansas, such as judicial selection.

“I have a plan to fix the budget situation and change the judicial selection,” Carpenter said. “Kansas has the only judicial selection like this in the United States. I would like to see it change to more of a democratize method. It’s the least democratic.”

Because fixing issues in politics is a tedious task, Carpenter no longer has time for gaming or airsoft. He admits he’s been more productive since then, hanging up the game controllers and airsoft guns.

However, he plans to return to WSU at some point to get his master’s. Carpenter even extended an offer to speak to students in Ciboski’s classes. He plans on giving students similar advice Howell gave him — politics are not that difficult. However, Ciboski said he thinks even if that’s true, there’s one thing that set Carpenter apart from the rest of his students.

“His intense interests and focus on politics made him different,” Ciboksi said. “I think that was the major selling point.”