The executive director of the Kansas African American Affairs Commission said Monday she’s running for the state Senate seat now held by Republican Rob Olson of Olathe.
Stacey Knoell of Olathe on Monday appointed a treasurer to run for the Senate District 23 seat that Olson has represented the since 2011.
“Polls and election results show that a majority of Kansans support issues and ideas that the Kansas Legislature continues to reject,” Knoell said in an email.
“From women’s reproductive rights to Medicaid expansion to public schools, it is time for Legislature to reflect the will of people,” she said.
Gov. Laura Kelly named Knoell as the executive director of the Kansas African American Affairs Commission in 2021. Knoell replaced Kenya Cox.
She lost with about 48% of the vote in a district won by former President Donald Trump and Republican U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall.
After election boundaries were redrawn in 2022, Knoell was moved into Senate District 23 with Olson, who is not running for reelection.
Republican state Rep. Adam Thomas of Olathe has already filed to run for the District 23 seat.
“Any time the people have multiple options and chances to pick the candidate of their choice, it’s a good thing,” Thomas said.
Thomas has said in the past that he believed redistricting would help him because it moved Spring Hill into Senate District 23. He currently represents Spring Hill as a House member.
Kelly carried Senate District 23 with about 53% of the vote when she was reelected last year.
Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt received about 44% of the vote in the district, followed by independent state Sen. Dennis Pyle with about 2% and Libertarian candidate Seth Cordell with about 1%.
The Value Them Both abortion amendment lost in this district with about 64% of the vote.
About 36% of the voters here supported the amendment, which would have removed the right to an abortion from the state constitution.
About 42% the district is made up of Republicans and 30% are Democrats. Another 27% of the district is comprised of unaffiliated voters.
Born in Nebraska and raised in Iowa, Knoell went to high school in Kansas City, Kansas.
She later returned to Iowa where she earned a bachelor’s degree in arts history from the University of Iowa.
She came back to the Kansas City area to work as a sign language interpreter at Blue Springs South High School and then later taught middle school math.
