(Will be updated as warranted)
Republican state Rep. Tory Marie Blew of Great Bend on Wednesday filed to challenge Republican state Sen. Alicia Straub of Ellinwood in District 33.
Elected in 2016 to represent the 112th District, Blew is now in her fourth term in the House. The Fort Hays State University graduate was elected at 23 years old.
Blew is a former Kansas Young Republicans chair and now serves as the Kansas Young Republicans National Committeewoman.
She also serves as the co-chair of the Kansas Future Caucus under the Millennial Action Project.
“I am a consistent, common sense conservative. I want to find solutions for the challenges rural communities face,” Blew said in a statement.
“That’s one thing I’ve fought for my entire time in the Legislature – making sure western Kansas is a part of every conversation.”
Blew earned a bachelor’s in business education from Fort Hays State and previously worked as a teacher.
Today, she is the human resources director for the family business, Pryor Automatic Fire Sprinkler.
Former Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt carried the district with 62% of the vote in the 2022 governor’s race. Gov. Laura Kelly received about 33%.
The Value Them Both abortion amendment won in this district last year with 57% of the vote.
The composition of the district is 65% Republican, 13% Democrat and 21% unaffiliated.
Straub was first elected in 2020, defeating moderate Republican Mary Jo Taylor in the primary with about 60% of the vote.
But this summer, Americans for Prosperity has targeted Straub and two other conservative senators for casting votes that undercut the Senate’s attempt to override Kelly’s veto of the tax bill last session.
The deep-pocketed group sent 10,000 mailers into each district calling out the lawmakers for their vote on the tax bill.
Straub and the two other conservative senators – Rob Olson and Dennis Pyle – cast decisive votes that prevented the Senate from reconsidering the tax bill after the chamber initially came up short of overriding the governor’s veto of the bill.
The Senate came up one vote short when it first tried to override the veto.
But a day later it appeared the chamber had the votes to reconsider the veto override when Republican Sen. Carolyn McGinn of Sedgwick changed her mind and agreed to support the bill.
McGinn’s vote would have given the bill 27 votes, or the two-thirds majority needed for an override, but the bill was scuttled because it lost support from Olson and Straub, who both supported the bill initially.
Straub could not be immediately reached for comment. Previously, Straub did not respond to an email asking about the AFP mailer.
Straub concluded 2022 with $1,853 in cash on hand after raising $501 last year.
Blew is the fifth House member to announce for the Senate in next year’s elections.
Republican state Rep. John Eplee of Atchison has already announced that he is running for in Senate District 1, which is now represented by Pyle, who left the Republican Party to become an independent when he ran for governor last year.
Republican Craig Bowser is also running for that Senate seat. Pyle has not given a firm indication about whether he plans to seek reelection.
Last weekend, Republican state Rep. Stephen Owens of Hesston announced that he was running against Republican incumbent Carolyn McGinn of Sedgwick in Senate District 31.
Meanwhile, Republican state Rep. Bill Clifford of Garden City is running for the Senate District 39 seat represented by state Sen. John Doll.
Doll has indicated that he’s not running for reelection.
Republican state Rep. Adam Thomas also is running for the Senate seat now held by Olson, who is not running for reelection.
