A Democratic Shawnee real estate agent on Tuesday officially launched his campaign to challenge Republican state Sen. Mike Thompson next year.
Andrew Mall will take on Thompson in Senate District 10, after recently appointing a campaign treasurer to run for the Senate.
“The people of Senate District 10 want common sense solutions to our challenges, we want to help our fellow Kansans, and we want leaders who will listen to the people who send them to Topeka,” Mall said in statement Tuesday.
“I’m looking forward to earning their trust to be that leader in the Kansas Senate,” Mall said. “People want to raise their children, start a business, and retire in our area because of the promise of a great quality of life.”
“In the Senate, I’ll work to strengthen these things that make Kansas great, and ensure that future generations have access to the same opportunities we enjoy.”
A post on the KS Senate 10+6 Democrats Facebook page indicated that Mall will officially kick off his candidacy at an event planned for June 20.
Named as 2016 Realtor of the Year by the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors, Mall received a bachelor’s degree in marketing and international business from Kansas State in 2000.
He is a licensed real estate agent in Kansas and Missouri since getting a broker’s license from both states in 2005.
This year, he is the treasurer of the Kansas City Association of Realtors, and last year he was the president of the Kansas Association of Realtors.
Three years ago, he was the federal political coordinator for the National Association of Realtors.
Thompson, a former television weatherman, was elected to the Senate in 2020 when he defeated former Shawnee City Council member Lindsey Constance.
Thompson won that election with about 52% of the vote, although some thought Constance’s decision not to knock doors during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic could have cost her the election even though she was well financed.
Thompson and Constance spent more than $350,000 combined in that election, and it could very well be expensive again next year.
The population makeup of Senate District 10 is about the same after election boundaries were redrawn.
About 86% of the district’s population is from the current district and about 14% comes from Senate District 21 now represented by Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly carried the district with 56% of the vote in the 2022 governor’s race while Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt received about 41% and independent state Sen. Dennis Pyle received 1.4%.
The Value Them Both abortion amendment lost in this district with about 72% of the vote. About 28% of the voters here supported the amendment, which would have removed the right to an abortion from the state constitution.
