TOPEKA ? Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh today announced he will seek re-election to a fourth four-year term in office.

Thornburgh will face Sen. Kay O’Connor, R-Olathe, in the Aug. 1 Republican Party primary.

First elected in 1994, Thornburgh said he has modernized the office to help businesses file required records. “We are making doing business in Kansas faster, better, and cheaper,” he said.

And, he said, he has led implementation of the Help America Vote Act, adopted by Congress in the wake of the controversial vote count in Florida during the 2000 presidential election.

“I led the charge to ensure that the problems of Florida in 2000 would never again plague our nation’s electoral system, and will never happen in Kansas,” he said.

Thornburgh considered a possible run for governor this year, but decided against it, saying a primary and general election campaign for the top state executive spot would have taken too much time away from his wife and two sons who are eight- and six-years old.

But, he said, he may consider running for governor sometime in the future.

Thornburgh said he took O’Connor’s candidacy “very seriously.”

“Kay works hard. She’s been elected five times, has been outspent five times, and the roadside is littered with people she has defeated,” he said.

He said the GOP primary is “one-game elimination and you’re done.”