OVERLAND PARK, KS (KCTV) -
The road to the White House is passing through Kansas.
Former GOP presidential candidate and Texas Gov. Rick Perry spoke Thursday night at the Republican Party State Convention being held in Overland Park's convention center.
It is the first ever GOP convention in the Sunflower State.
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback is a long-time friend of Perry.
Several hundred attended Thursday night's event. More than 1,000 are expected this weekend.
Brownback was pleased with the excitement and energy from both the crowd and speakers.
"It has already been successful. Great speakers a lot of energy, a lot going on," Brownback said.
The state convention comes about three weeks before the party caucuses in March.
"We wanted to have a venue where all of our activists, certainly our donors and all of our elected leaders could come together and express their enthusiasm. We thought, ‘What better time to essentially start this big event than during a very exciting presidential election cycle?'" said Amanda Adkins with the Kansas GOP.
Perry emphasized the importance of electing a committed fiscal conservative in November who will "restructure" Washington.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks Friday and Saturday night Steve Forbes will speak.
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