Topeka ? Another Democrat is giving 2010 a pass.

State Sen. Laura Kelly, D-Topeka, who sought to challenge Republican U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins for the 2nd Congressional District, which includes west Lawrence, bowed out of the race on Thursday.

Kelly said she didn’t want a congressional campaign to divert her attention from working on the current state budget crisis.

“As the financial condition of this state has worsened, it has become clear that there are not enough hours in the day or days in the week to make it possible for me to fulfill my duties as a state senator who is the ranking member of the Senate’s budget committee and be a full-time candidate for Congress,” Kelly said in a prepared statement.

Her announcement was the most recent in a series of setbacks for the Kansas Democratic Party.

On Dec. 16, Tom Wiggans, the leading Democratic candidate for governor, dropped out, leaving the party with no strong challenger to presumed Republican nominee U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback.

Wiggans, a wealthy but unknown political newcomer who recently moved back to Kansas, vaulted to the Democratic forefront only after both Gov. Mark Parkinson and state Democratic Party Chairman Larry Gates decided not to run.

And in November, six-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, a Democrat whose 3rd District includes east Lawrence and who made a career out of beating a wide spectrum of Republicans in a GOP-leaning district, announced he would not seek re-election.

Plus, no big-name Democrat has jumped into the race to replace Brownback in the Senate, while two House veterans, Jerry Moran and Todd Tiahrt, are vying for the Republican nomination. Kansas has not elected a Democratic U.S. senator since 1932.

So, are Kansas Democrats facing a Republican tidal wave in 2010, or does this situation simply represent business as usual for a minority party that historically faces tough odds?

Bob Beatty, political science professor at Washburn University, said outnumbered Kansas Democrats are doing what they have always done, strategically focusing on a handful of statewide and congressional races.

In Kansas, there are approximately 745,000 registered Republican voters, and 471,000 Democratic voters. There are actually more unaffiliated voters — 474,000 — than Democrats.

But, Beatty said, the state Democratic Party has been hurt by candidates dropping out of races.

“That’s bad press and has been embarrassing to the party,” he said.

Democrats hold two statewide offices — Attorney General Steve Six and State Treasurer Dennis McKinney — and will probably have a well-funded candidate in the 4th Congressional District in state Rep. Raj Goyle of Wichita. Neither Six nor McKinney, who were appointed to their positions to fill vacancies, has run a statewide campaign before and will undoubtedly face aggressive Republican challengers.

Beatty said Kelly, who is considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, may have been able to defeat Jenkins, who was elected in 2008. But it would have been difficult, he said.

“One of the best ways to run for Congress is to run against Congress, and that is difficult when it’s your own party in charge,” he said.