Topeka ? U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts drew no Democratic opponent Monday but did pick up a primary challenger who said he was in the race to “give smokers, fat people, etc. a voice.”

Tom Oyler of Wichita, a retired Boeing Co. employee who now farms, was one of two candidates who filed before the noon deadline as a candidate for statewide office.

The other was Charles McAtee, of Topeka, an attorney who is seeking the Republican nomination for attorney general.

Democrats thought they had a candidate to challenge Roberts’ bid for re-election, but that person did not come forward. State Democratic Chairman Tom Sawyer said the race hadn’t been a high priority, given the difficulty of defeating a GOP incumbent in a traditionally Republican state and other, more competitive races.

The 57-year-old Oyler seemed likely to be a colorful addition to the race for the U.S. Senate.

In a statement, he wrote: “The groups I am targeting are smokers, fat folk, meat eaters, fur wearers, gun owners, farmers, and any other bunch that has been marked by gangs of ANTI-FREEDOM lifestyle hucksters spewing their lies and hatred, endorsed and supported by our government, for taxation and condemnation.”

Oyler ran against Roberts in the GOP primary in 1996, the year Roberts won his first term in the Senate. He also ran against Republican Sen. Sam Brownback, accepting the Libertarian nomination that year. He said a friend was prominent in the party, and it didn’t have a candidate.

He said he was running in hopes of getting Roberts to discuss issues he was concerned about.

“He’s a nice guy,” he said during an interview. “I don’t have anything against him.”

Democrats had pinned their hopes in the U.S. Senate race on Overland Park attorney Patrick Wiesner. He filed May 17, then withdrew May 21.