A Leavenworth attorney who specializes in military law has announced her candidacy to challenge Republican state Rep. Pat Proctor in House District 41.
Aimee M. Bateman, who spent a little more than 21 years in the Army before starting a private legal practice, is running as a Democrat for the seat that Proctor has held since 2021.
“I am driven by a desire to enact change on a larger scale, with a focus on reducing property taxes, healthcare and criminal justice reform, as well as responsible fiscal policies that empower local communities to grow and thrive,” Bateman said in a statement.
A 2000 graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Bateman devoted about 12 years of her military career to legal work, including time as a prosecutor for
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Her military career wasn’t confined to legal work.
She served as a rear detachment commander at Fort Benning, Georgia, overseeing more than
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In Kansas, Bateman was a senior defense counsel and regional defense counsel at Fort Leavenworth.
She started her own law firm in 2021 with experience in
She takes on an incumbent with his own military background.
Proctor, a restaurant owner, served in the Army from 1989 to 2019, including tours in Afghanistan and Iraq.
He and his wife came to Leavenworth in 2006 so he could attend the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He retired in 2019.
“Over the last three years, I have been hard at work, fighting for the people of Leavenworth, Fort Leavenworth, and Kickapoo,” Proctor said in a statement.
“After years of empty promises from local politicians, I got state funding for a veterans’ home for northeast Kansas and got the Centennial Bridge on the funded list,” he said.
He also cited his support for incentives for the new Panasonic plant in De Soto.
“If I have the honor to continue to serve my neighbors as their state representative, I am going right back to work fighting to reduce property taxes, support our veterans and corrections Officers, and bring jobs and opportunity back to Leavenworth,” he said.
Proctor defeated Democrat Harry Schwartz by 144 votes in 2022. He defeated Mike Griswold – then mayor of Leavenworth – by 435 votes in 2020.
Proctor raised $43,599 last year and had $33,176 cash on hand at the end of the year.
About 37% of this district is made up of unaffiliated voters and 35% is comprised of Republican voters. About 26% of the voters here are Democrats.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly won 50% of the vote in this district in the 2022 governor’s race, while Republican Derek Schmidt won 45% of the vote here.