Among the four Republicans running for governor, Dave Kerr figures he’s the one with a bull’s-eye on his back.

“As a legislator, I’ve cast some 13,000 votes,” he said. “With that kind of record, I suspect that just about anybody can find something to disagree with.”

But even his harshest critics, Kerr said, will concede that after 18 years in the Kansas Senate, he’s earned a reputation for being trustworthy, contemplative and willing to take on tough issues. And it’s these qualities, he said, that most Kansans are looking for in their next governor.

Kerr, 57, campaigned Thursday in Lawrence, making a breakfast appearance at the Lawrence Rotary Club meeting at the Hereford House restaurant, 4931 W. Sixth St., followed by a meeting with the Journal-World editorial board.

Other Republicans running for governor are State Treasurer Tim Shallenburger, Wichita Mayor Bob Knight and former Eudora school Supt. Dan Bloom.

Kerr, a resident of Hutch-inson, is president of the Kansas Senate, where he’s also served as majority leader and chairman of the budget and education committees.

“I see myself as being very different from the other candidates,” Kerr said, noting that Knight, as mayor of the state’s largest city, lacks the “broad, statewide perspective” it takes to lead a state that’s mostly rural. Kerr grew up in rural Pratt County, graduating from tiny Coats High School. Knight did hold a statewide office from 1992 to 1994 as state secretary of commerce.

Shallenburger, Kerr said, has chosen to focus on simplistic slogans and pledges  something Kerr said he has refused to do. He did not comment on Bloom’s candidacy.

Kerr warned that the state’s economic picture had not improved, noting that revenues have yet to “bottom out” and that this year’s drought-plagued wheat crop is sure to disappoint.

“There is no wheat in western Kansas,” he said. “There are parts of the state where it hasn’t rained for a year.”

Even more dire, he said, are western Kansas’ troubles in sustaining an economy that can attract and retain young families.

“It’s clear,” he said. “Young people are not returning to that part of the state.”

If elected governor, Kerr said he would form a task force to find ways to salvage the state’s rural economy.

On other topics, Kerr said he would support giving local school districts authority to raise taxes as a short-term solution to the latest budget crunch. At the same time, he said, he would launch a much-needed overhaul of the state’s school finance formula.

The overhaul, he said, would include giving low-enrollment districts incentives to consolidate and address problems posed by declining enrollment.

He promised to maintain the state’s long-term commitment to higher education.

“We’re going to stay the course on higher ed,” he said.