A member of the Emporia School Board has filed to run for the state Senate seat that is coming open with Jeff Longbine’s retirement.
Lillian Lingenfelter is running for the state Senate District 17 seat that Longbine has represented for 14 years.
Lingenfelter is a high school social studies teacher in the Burlington School District.
She has a master’s in education from American University in Washington, D.C., and has a bachelor’s in education, secondary education and teaching from Emporia State.
“As a public school teacher, I have chosen to dedicate my life to the service of public education and serving students and their families,” Lingenfelter said in a statement.
“I believe it is imperative for educators to have a seat at the table and be involved in the decision-making processes needed to strengthen our schools and provide more support to students, parents and teachers,” she said.
She supports affordable, quality child care and “access to first-rate healthcare in rural Kansas, which includes freedom for women’s reproductive health care, and common sense gun safety reform.”
At this point, Lingenfelter would face Republican Mike Argabright, former superintendent of the Southern Lyon County School District.
Named Kansas superintendent of the year in 2023, Argabright operates a farm and raises Charolais cattle in southern Lyon County.
While serving as school superintendent, Argabright founded and coordinated the Honor Flight program, which paired students with veterans to visit memorials and landmarks in and around the nation’s capital.
Senate District 17 covers Lyon County and Morris County and parts of Geary County, including Junction City.
About 40% of Senate District 17 is made up of Republican voters, and 24% of the voters are Democrats. About 35% of the voters here are unaffiliated.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly carried this district with about 51% of the vote, while Republican Derek Schmidt received about 46% of the vote. Conservative independent Dennis Pyle received about 2% of the vote in the district.
The constitutional amendment on abortion was defeated in this district with about 61% of the vote.
JoCo Republican Primary
A Republican primary is forming in an effort to take back a Johnson County House seat that hasn’t been represented by a Republican since 2018.
Debbie Paulbeck has filed to run as a Republican in the primary against retired Overland Park businessman Randy Ross.
Paulbeck said she studied occupational therapy at the University of Kansas and worked nearly her entire professional career in health care, primarily with optometrists and ophthalmologists specializing in children’s eye care.
“The professional politicians in Topeka aren’t finding lasting solutions to so many problems facing the residents of Overland Park,” she said in a statement.
“I’m a political outsider who will be focused on working with everyone to achieve practical results for Johnson County.
“Our families and seniors are being crushed by inflation, they face ever increasing property taxes and health care costs are a concern to everyone. In the Kansas Legislature I will be focused on results, not politics, because our kid’s future is just too important.”
Ross, formerly a senior vice president for a health care consulting practice, filed to run for the House seat last fall.
Ross has been involved in the Johnson County Republican Party, running unsuccessfully for party chair against winner Maria Holiday.
District 48 hasn’t been represented by a Republican since Abraham Rafie in 2018 when he lost to Democrat Dave Benson of Overland Park.
Republican Terry Frederick ran for the seat in 2020 and narrowly lost to former state Rep. Jennifer Day by 62 votes.
Two years later, Frederick ran against Democrat Dan Osman and came up 267 votes short.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly carried this district with about 58% of the vote when she was reelected in 2022.
Her Republican rival, Attorney General Derek Schmidt, received about 40% of the vote in the district.
The constitutional abortion amendment lost in this district with about 68% of the vote.
About 44% of the district is made up of Republicans, and about 31% is comprised of Democrats. About 24% of the district is made up of unaffiliated voters.
Osman has been in the House since 2021, when he was picked by Democratic precinct leaders to replace Day.
Osman graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a bachelor’s in behavioral sciences and earned his law degree from the University of Kansas.
He previously was elected twice to the Hickman Mills school board, serving for six years.
Claeys draws an opponent
An attorney who provides legal services for a nonprofit public defense law firm has filed to run against Republican state Sen. J.R. Claeys of Salina.
John Baker announced his campaign for Senate District 24, representing Saline and Dickinson counties.
Claeys, a former four-term member of the House, was elected to the Senate in 2020.
He was unopposed in the general election after defeating incumbent Randall Hardy in the Republican primary with 62% of the vote.
“I decided to run for the Kansas Senate because I believe our district deserves a senator who will listen to their constituents and bring common sense Salina values back to Topeka,” Baker said in a statement.
“I plan to do that by investing more in our public schools to ensure every child has the opportunity to pursue a world-class public education, increasing access to first-rate health care, and protecting Kansans’ freedom to make their own healthcare decisions.”
Baker now works for Kansas Holistic Defenders, a nonprofit public defense law firm.
While in law school, Baker worked in the legal office headquarters of the Communications Workers of America, where he worked on efforts to secure a $15 minimum wage for federal contractors.
He also did volunteer work as an AmeriCorps Vista member for the Legal Aid Society of Hawaii, an office that provides free legal services to homeless and indigent individuals.
He has also served on the board of Salina’s Friends of the River Foundation.
Baker has a law degree from Washburn University and a bachelor’s in business administration and management from Fort Hays State.
Former Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt carried this district with 54% of the vote. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly received 42% of the vote.
About 52% of the voters in this district are Republican, 18% are Democrats and 30% are unaffiliated.
