Republican Party precinct leaders on Wednesday night picked a Douglas County woman with a career in logistics to replace state Rep. Carrie Barth in the Kansas House.
They elected Courtney Sappington to fill Barth’s House seat representing District 5, which covers parts of Douglas, Franklin, Johnson and Miami counties.
There was no challenger, and she was elected by acclamation.
“I have been involved in the community here in Douglas County and Baldwin City, and it seemed like a great opportunity to serve,” Sappington said in an interview.
Sappington, 38, is a mother of three, including two children who are adopted.
She described herself as a “bonafide conservative” who is pro-life and supports a “freedom-based agenda” that promotes families and emphasizes deregulation and lower taxes.
During the pandemic, Sappington advocated for health freedom issues in local schools and against mask and vaccine mandates.
Sappington said her conservative leanings trace back to how she was raised.
“My parents are staunch, conservative Republicans, and that’s how they raised me,” she said. “I have taken it to heart. It’s been something I’ve been invested since I was a child.”
Sappington has a bachelor’s in political science from Truman State University and a master’s in global management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University.
Sappington has already filed to run for a full two-year term in the House next year.
Democrat Henry Johns of Lawrence has already filed to run again in 2026. Johns lost to Barth in 2024 with 32% of the vote.
House District 5 has a distinctly conservative flavor.
President Donald Trump won the district with about 64% of the vote last year.
Republican Derek Schmidt won the district with 52% of the vote in the 2022 governor’s race, and it was carried by every Republican statewide candidate that year as well.
