Even though the election still is months away, it’s already certain there will be many familiar faces in the Kansas Legislature when the 2003 session begins.

It may not be a surprising statistic, but it is nonetheless extremely sad. When the filing deadline for the Kansas House passed at noon Monday, 52 of the chamber’s 125 seats were being sought by only one candidate. Barring any unusually successful write-in campaigns, that’s just over 40 percent of the Kansas House that will be elected next November without opposition.

And talk about an incumbents’ advantage. Of the 52 uncontested seats, 48 of them will be incumbents who are being retained in office. Among the remaining four uncontested races is one that will return former Democratic Minority Leader Tom Sawyer of Wichita to office.

This is an interesting phenomenon about state politics. Thousands of voters across the state may rail about the members of the Kansas Legislature and their various actions or inactions, but the incumbent on your ballot never seems to be part of the problem. It’s always someone else’s legislator.

Automatically returning 40 percent of the House members to their seats is a resounding vote of confidence that seems out of step with the amount of criticism during the session aimed at legislators’ stands on key issues, particularly public school and higher education funding. Even the House leadership urged Kansas voters to keep track of how their legislators voted and make sure they were willing to put the state’s money where their mouths were when it came time to pass the tax increases needed to fund the initiatives they supported.

It could be that only the top-notch incumbents are getting a pass in the 2002 election. To be sure, a number of incumbents DO have opposition, some even from within their own parties. But regardless of how good a job a legislator is doing, it’s disappointing to see such a large number of races go uncontested.

Unopposed candidates may have a tendency to become complacent and assume they can remain in office as long as they choose. They have little reason to articulate their positions on certain issues and may not make as much effort to gather the input needed to best represent their constituency.

Perhaps even more troubling, however, is the apathy that seems to be represented by the many open slots on the ballot. Kansans aren’t engaged in their government or the party organizations that provide the framework for that government. Rather than take on the job of helping lead the state, they leave that job to others.

Many of the incumbents who will return to the Kansas House unopposed are well-motivated and intelligent representatives of the people. They are doing the kind of job that probably warrants their re-election. But that doesn’t mean that a campaign against a worthy opponent wouldn’t sharpen their thinking and get them more in touch with their constituents.

When it comes to elective politics, a little competition almost always is a good thing.