A Wichita businessman who unsuccessfully tried to pitch a medical marijuana bill to the Legislature this year has filed to run in the Republican primary against state Sen. Renee Erickson.
Sam Jones, chief operating officer of Kansas Natural Remedies, is mounting a campaign for Senate District 30, which covers all or parts of Andover, Eastborough and Wichita.
Erickson, the assistant majority leader in the Senate, is wrapping up her first term in the chamber after she was elected in 2020 when she defeated Democrat Melissa Gregory with about 52% of the vote.
Jones is running for the seat after making a failed bid to get the Legislature to pass a bill that would have started a pilot program for distributing medical marijuana under tight restrictions.
“Topeka is out of touch with its constituents,” Jones said in a statement late Monday night.
“Kansans want leadership that views our state’s politics as a public service, not as career advancement, as a means of exercising power, or subjecting citizens to laws reflecting the personal beliefs of an ideologic(al) minority,” he said.
“I’m not doing this for a career, self-aggrandizement, or a misguided belief that I know better than the people I represent; this is about public service and ensuring that my neighbors in District 30 are heard,” he said.
Jones said he has enlisted Wichita developer Tim Garvey as his treasurer.
Erickson said she is proud of what she has achieved in the Senate.
“I am proud of my principled record in the Senate,” she said in an email.
“That includes championing good legislation like the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, tax reductions for every Kansan, and for student-focused educational policy.
“I look forward to sharing that record with the people of the 30th District,” she said.
Jones works for Kansas Natural Remedies, the hemp cultivator that supported the medical marijuana bill, which was portrayed as a more conservative approach to legalizing medical marijuana.
He appeared before the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee, which tabled the bill after it drew widespread opposition from physicians, law enforcement, the Catholic Church and even Kansans who support legalization of medical marijuana.
Erickson made the motion to table the bill.
“I appreciate all the information that has been shared with us today,” Erickson said then.
“And through this, it has become abundantly clear to me that this is not the conservative, restricted control program that it’s being characterized as,” she said.
Jones has a bachelor’s in history from the University of Kansas and a law degree from Washburn University.
He has worked as corporate counsel fro HJH Investments in Wichita, an associate attorney for Klenda Austerman in Wichita and vice president of acquisition and development for ICT Capital in Wichita.
He also worked as a land and right of way service agent for Wybank Land Services in Houston before joining Kansas Natural Remedies in 2021.
Erickson raised $53,006 last year and had $69,837 in cash on hand as of Dec. 31.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly carried this district with about 48.8% of the vote while Republican Derek Schmidt received 48.5%.
Conservative independent Dennis Pyle received 1.7% of the vote while Libertarian Seth Cordell received about 1%.
About 42% of the voters in this district are Republicans and about 25% are Democrats.
About 32% of the voters here are unaffiliated.
