Retired Army Col. Pat Proctor has made it official: He is running for the House District 41 seat now represented by Democrat Jeff Pittman.
Proctor held an event to announce his candidacy Thursday night in Leavenworth at one of the three Baan Thai restaurants that he owns with his wife.
Proctor has been working for months on a legislative campaign as first reported here back in August.
By last summer, he already had a website and plenty of campaign literature to distribute. He had been going door to door collecting enough signatures to get on the ballot by petition.
He announced that he collected more than 700 signatures and has already raised more than $20,000 for the race.
Last year, Pittman spent about $60,000 on his successful re-election effort, compared to the $22,000 spent by former conservative state Rep. Tony Barton.
Proctor, a Republican, 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 this summer.
He and his wife now own a chain of Baan Thai restaurants in Leavenworth, Manhattan and Lawrence.
House District 41 includes Leavenworth County and part of the city of Leavenworth.
Most of the voters in the district — 38% — are unaffiliated. Thirty-one percent are Republicans, and 29% are Democrats.
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly carried the district by about 500 votes over Republican Kris Kobach in last year’s governor’s race.
The district went for President Donald Trump with about 51% of the vote in 2016, for former Gov. Sam Brownback with 47.2% in 2014 and Mitt Romney with about 51% of the vote in 2012.
The House District 41 seat is coming open with Pittman’ decision to run for the Senate against Republican incumbent Kevin Braun in District 5.
Pittman, a Democrat, defeated Barton in 2016 with 55% of the vote and again in 2018 with 57% of the vote.
