One candidate seeks a rematch.
Another seeks to fill a seat that will soon come vacant.
Stephanie Yeager, a former aide to congressional candidate James Thompson, announced Wednesday she was running for the seat now held by state Rep. Brandon Whipple, who was just elected mayor of Wichita.
Also, former Democratic state Rep. Eber Phelps on Monday filed to run for his old House seat, setting up a possible rematch with Republican state Rep. Barbara Wasinger.
Yeager, the wife of Sedgwick County Democratic Party chairman Jimmy Yeager, announced her candidacy Wednesday at about 1 p.m. on Twitter.
She appointed a treasurer for her campaign on Nov. 16.
“It’s official! I could use you on my team,” she tweeted.
Her announcement was followed up with an endorsement on Twitter from Thompson, who ran unsuccessfully against Republican Ron Estes twice in the 4th Congressional District.
“So excited for my friend and former finance director Stephanie Yeager as she throws her hat in the ring for the Kansas state legislature,” Thompson tweeted. “She is going to knock it out of the park.”
Yeager had been mentioned recently as a candidate for the House District 96 seat in Wichita. The Sunflower State Journal first reported her interest in the position a little more than a week ago.
At the time, she said she wasn’t actively campaigning for the seat and she was in no hurry to make a decision. “I definitely love this House district, this area of town,” Yeager said. “It’s something I’m thinking about.”
Yeager, a precinct committeewoman, could not be reached for comment Wednesday night. So it was immediately unclear whether she was going to run to fill out the last year of Whipple’s term although it is believed she will.
Whipple was in his fourth term as a House member representing the district. He was unopposed last year.
Meanwhile out west, Phelps is seeking to make a comeback in House District 111 after losing to Wasinger by 35 votes last year.
The tight race between Phelps and Wasinger led to a recount and ultimately a lawsuit that was filed challenging the election. The lawsuit was later dropped.
House District 111 covers Ellis County and includes Hays, Munjor and Victoria.
The district went for Trump with 71% of the vote in 2016, former Gov. Sam Brownback with 52% of the vote in 2014 and Mitt Romney with 71% of the vote in 2012.
Phelps had served in the Kansas House from 1997 to 2012 and was elected again to the Legislature in 2016.
Phelps told the Hays Post on Tuesday that he was encouraged to run again by supporters after he narrowly lost last year.
Phelps is currently a Hays city commissioner. Earlier this year, he was appointed to fill the unexpired term of a commissioner who moved to Wichita for a job.
