A survivor of abuse he knows what it takes to fight the system. Ryan is proud to call Wichita home. Ryan was born to a blue collar couple in Wichita, Kansas. It was a difficult first few years as he endured physical and mental abuse from his biological parents. He suffered a variety of injuries including being hospitalized as a baby with a broken arm before he even had a name. Ryan and his sibling
s ended up in the foster care system when the adults meant to raise him failed. At that time, Ryan hoped foster care would be a saving grace. Ryan spent years living with foster families and in and out of youth homes. Rather than save him from abuse, the majority of what Ryan experienced in the foster care system was more abuse. Separated from his siblings, Ryan was fighting even then to reunite his family and against the system he saw was failing him. Ryan and his siblings were finally adopted by a family in LeRoy, Kansas. Life was not all dark, and Ryan fought every day to find joy and happiness. His passion for football made him a ferocious defensive linebacker and his natural inquisitiveness made him a great student. Ryan had hopes of going to college and becoming a lawyer, attending Washburn University. Life and a family were calling, however, and Ryan ended his studies to raise a family. Ryan continued to work hard for his family, finding employment as a nuclear operator at Wolf Creek, working at EMP Shield, earning his certification as a neuro-linguistic practitioner, and starting a career as a legal assistant. It was from this last experience that Ryan teamed up with his partner to build a law firm focused on helping families and children, grossing more than a quarter million dollars in its first year. In 2024, Ryan watched in horror as Donald Trump was elected to a second term as President. He knew then that he was being called to take action. The lives of his children, his country, and his family were too important to allow him to sit silently by while our democracy was shredded. On October 16, 2025 Ryan officially declared his candidacy for Congress. Ryan counts among his heroes Dwight D. Eisenhower and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Eisenhower, a fellow Kansan, stepped up to fight the fascists in N**i Germany, going on to become one of America’s great Presidents. Ike’s courage and common sense helped him to act to save Americans when it mattered most. FDR’s sweeping reforms to put the country to work, pulling it out of the great depression, are a legacy that helped turn the tide of the country. It is that same kind of strong, activist government that Ryan believes can help pull America forward and into a country that works for us, not against us. Ryan knows first hand what it means to take on a government that’s fighting its citizens rather than lifting them up. His personal experiences in the foster care system, and his work trying every day to provide for his family, taught him how tough America can be on the ones it is supposed to help most. Despite all this, Ryan also knows what makes America already great: everyone has a chance to put their mark on this country, and lift others up. It is his hope to do exactly that in office.
