U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., will have Capitol competition this year.

Attorney Joan Ruff, a Democrat and a self-described “political moderate,” announced she would file paperwork today to run in November against Brownback, a conservative Republican.

“Sam Brownback campaigned on changing the way Washington operate,” she said. “Instead , after 10 years, Washington has changed Sam Brownback. He does not represent the working men and women of Kansas,” Ruff said.

Ruff, a Clay Center native, said that as a businesswoman and attorney she has worked on issues related to corporate responsibility, health and retirement benefits.

Ruff has journalism and law degrees from Kansas University, an MBA from Rockhurst University and a post-graduate law degree in taxation from New York University School of Law.

She now lives in Johnson County with her husband.