Topeka ? A Topeka attorney and real estate agent hopes to run for Congress as an independent.

Ty Reynolds is trying to collect signatures from 5,000 registered voters to get on the November ballot in the 2nd Congressional District. The district covers part of eastern Kansas.

Reynolds must submit the signatures to the secretary of state by Aug. 2, the day before the Republican and Democratic primaries.

Reynolds attended the national tea party convention in Nashville in February.

He says he decided to run because Sean Tevis, one of three candidates for the Democratic nomination, lives outside the district and is moving back into to establish residency.

The incumbent is Republican Lynn Jenkins, who faces state Sen. Dennis Pyle in the GOP primary. Also running are Democrats Cheryl Hudspeth and Thomas Koch.