Meet Ryan Gilbert

Born and Raised in Kansas.

Ryan was born to a blue collar couple in Wichita, Kansas in 1989.

His early years were chaotic living with abusive parents. Ryan suffered a variety of injuries from abuse, including a broken arm as a baby, before he even had a name. Ryan and his siblings ended up in the foster care system when the adults meant to raise him failed. Ryan hoped foster care would be a saving grace. It was not.

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 against the system he saw was failing him and his family. Ryan and his siblings were finally adopted by a family in the small town of LeRoy, Kansas. 

Life was not all dark, and Ryan fought every day to find joy and happiness. Ryan's natural inquisitiveness made him a great student, prompting Duke University to invite him to take the ACT as a middle schooler. Ryan loved playing sports. His passion for football made him a ferocious defensive linebacker leading to a scholarship to play football at Fort Scott Community College. Injuries, however, took their toll, and he gave up his football career, transferring as an undergrad to Washburn University.

Ryan's dream was to one day become a lawyer, but life had other plans. Ryan ended his undergrad studies to raise a family. Ryan raised his two beautiful daughters as a single dad after a divorce while maintaining a quality co-parenting relationship with his children's mother. Caring for his children is what drives everything that Ryan does, and is evident in how hard he works to provide for them.

Professional Career

Ryan obtained a degree in power plant technology.

Ryan continued to work hard for his family, becoming a jack of all trades. He knew the most important thing was to keep his family fed and housed. From building homes and working construction to finding employment as a nuclear power plant operator at Wolf Creek, he did whatever it took to provide for his family.

Ryan's career touched many areas, including helping to redesign surge protectors at EMP Shield. His clear thinking and strong work ethic caused him to get promoted quickly wherever he went. He also wasn't afraid to push back and challenge policies and work environments when he found them to be lacking. This didn't always sit well with his employers, but Ryan was determined to fight for what he believed was right. Eventually, Ryan began a career as a legal assistant at a large Midwest family law firm. This set him on the course to achieve success managing a law firm.

Ryan teamed up with his best friend, who is an attorney, to start Thompson Family Law, LLC. The goal of the firm is to help families and children through some of life's most difficult, stressful times. Ryan's experiences in the foster care system and having gone through his own divorce led him to this calling. He knew he needed to help children and their families get through the legal process. Ryan does not have a law degree, but his experience as business manager for the firm helped him lead the company. It is a thriving business, showing that Ryan has made the most of life, despite not having a college degree.

Ready to Lead

Ryan becomes the first to declare for Congress in the Fourth District.

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. Especially as Ron Estes offered no fight to protect us at all.

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 Nazi 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. For all of us.