Democratic state Sen. Dinah Sykes is seeking to replace longtime state Sen. Anthony Hensley as the party’s leader in the Senate.
In an email sent out this week, Sykes is seeking support from the 11-member Democratic caucus to fill the minority leadership position that will come open for the first time since 1997 with Hensley’s defeat in the general election.
She could face a challenge from veteran Democratic state Sen. Tom Holland, who was first elected to the state Senate from Baldwin City in 2008.
“The loss of Sen. Hensley is a tremendous blow to our caucus,” Sykes said in the email.
“His service to our state and his leadership have been invaluable through many tough fights,” she wrote.
“I will forever be grateful for the welcome that I received two years ago from Sen. Hensley and all of you when I chose to switch parties,” she wrote.
“There is no doubt his leadership will be greatly missed, especially as we head into the redistricting discussions and other important battles over the next four years.”
Sykes was elected to the Senate District 21 seat in 2016 when she defeated Republican incumbent Greg Smith in the primary and Democrat Logan Heley in the general election.
She changed parties to become a Democrat in 2018, saying she had become disconnected with an increasingly conservative Republican Party.
The Lenexa lawmaker was just elected to a second term, defeating Republican Tom Bickimer 55% to 45% in the general election.
Sykes promised to bring a fighting spirit to the position where the new minority leader will be faced with a Senate that will be dominated by conservative lawmakers.
“As you all have seen, I’m not one to back down from a fight,” she wrote.
“While the Republican Party enjoys the majority of the seats, they don’t hold the majority of Kansas voices,” she wrote.
“There were hundreds of thousands of ballots cast for Democrats across the state, and we must continue to stand up for those good people,” she said. “This will take cooperation, civility, and compromise.”
Hensley, who has been in the state Senate since 1992 and is the longest serving member of the Kansas Legislature, was elected as the chamber’s minority leader in 1997.
He lost to Republican Rick Kloos in the general election, ending his 44-year tenure in the Legislature, including 16 years in the House.
