Democratic state Rep. David Benson is drawing a challenge from Republican Overland Park accountant Terry Frederick.
Frederick, a former Prairie Village City Council member who lost his seat on the Water District No. 1 board last year, is running for the House District 48 seat.
Benson, the former Blue Valley School District superintendent, won the House seat in 2018 when he defeated Republican incumbent Abraham Rafie by 82 votes.
Frederick owns his own business and partners with Barnwell Consulting as an accountant and business tax consultant.
He also worked as a director of state and local corporate tax for Sprint from 1999 to 2016. He was with the company for almost 27 years.
He also worked as an assistant manager in income taxes for Kansas City Southern Industries and as a senior tax consultant for Arthur Andersen & Co.
House District 48 covers a swath of Overland Park south of the Interstate 435 loop.
The district has leaned Republican over the years, going for President Donald Trump with 49% of the vote in 2016, former Gov. Sam Brownback with 53% in 2014 and presidential candidate Mitt Romney with about 63% of the vote in 2012.
However, Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly carried the district by about 15 percentage points in 2018.
Last year, Frederick lost his seat on the Water 1 Board. He was defeated by about 11,000 votes by Melanie Kraft.
“As our nation continues to battle with COVID-19 and steps are taken to keep us all safe and healthy, our economy has without question paid a significant price,” Frederick said in a statement.
“We will need leaders in Topeka who possess experience in management, budgets and tax policies to help get Kansas growing again,” Frederick said.
Benson raised $4,474 last year and had $8,094 on hand at the end of 2019.
