Barbara Ballard secured her eighth term representing Kansas House District 44 on Tuesday, besting her first challenger in years by a wide margin.

Ballard collected 3,605 of 4,725 votes, or 76.3 percent. Republican challenger Rick Davis gathered 1,120 votes.

The district covers western and central Lawrence.

“I believe my constituents are very pleased with what I’ve done in Topeka,” said Ballard, a Democrat.

Ballard, associate director of the Dole Institute of Politics at Kansas University, voted for the $466 million school funding plan approved last session.

She said she’s proud of her work supporting the K-12 school funding plan and working to get more support for people with disabilities.

Ballard vowed to continue defending the three-year, K-12 finance plan and working for higher education, including dealing with a backlog of building maintenance needs at KU and other Regents institutions.

Regents officials have played host to a series of tours at campuses across the state this fall to show lawmakers the maintenance problems close-up.

“It’s really gotten to the point that we cannot ignore it anymore,” Ballard said, adding that she would like to see a comprehensive plan to tackle the problem.

“You don’t want to come out the first time and have it defeated,” she said.

Davis, a 23-year-old KU political science student, said the seat needed someone with new ideas. He said though he may not have succeeded this time, he’ll be back.

“I knew that it was going to be a tough race getting into it,” he said.