photo by: John Young

Lawrence Rep. Barbara Ballard (D), right, answers a question while, from left, Jeremy Ryan Pierce (R), Tom Sloan (R), Jim Karleskint (R) and Steven Davis (D) await their turns during a question and answer session sponsored by the Voter Education Coalition on Sunday afternoon, July 10, 2016, at City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.

Topeka ? Lawrence Reps. Tom Sloan, a Republican, and Barbara Ballard, a Democrat, hold big fundraising advantages over their respective primary opponents heading into the final week of the primary campaign.

But Jim Karleskint of Tonganoxie appears to be mounting a strong campaign in his bid to unseat incumbent Rep. Connie O’Brien in the GOP primary in the 42nd District, which includes Eudora and much of eastern Douglas County.

According to campaign finance reports that were filed with state regulators Monday, Sloan raised more than $15,000 between Jan. 1 and July 21, far more than any other local candidate facing a primary this year.

He already had a large war chest built up at the beginning of the year, and he heads into the final week of the primary campaign with just more than $51,000 on hand.

Most of his contributions were from individuals in Lawrence and the surrounding area and ranged between $50 and $300 each. He also received money from a few corporations and political action committees, including $500 checks from Hy-Vee, the Kansas National Education Association and Uncork Kansas, a group that has been lobbying to allow grocery and convenience stores to sell strong beer, wine and liquor.

Sloan, a strategic consultant who also farms in western Douglas County, is seeking his 12th term in the 45th House District, which includes parts of west Lawrence and western Douglas County.

A moderate Republican, he has been an outspoken critic of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax policies and a supporter of expanding Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act.

He’s being challenged again this year by Jeremy Ryan Pierce, a conservative who challenged Sloan unsuccessfully in 2014. Pierce reported raising $385. That money came in the form of five checks, four of which were from individuals outside Kansas.

In the neighboring 44th District, Ballard held a comparable fundraising lead over her challenger, Steven X. Davis.

Ballard is seeking her 13th term in the House. She is the associate director for civic programming and outreach at the Dole Institute of Politics at Kansas University and currently serves as chair of the House Democratic Caucus.

Her financial report shows she had $14,744 in her campaign account to start the year. She has raised $5,400, spent a little more than $4,000, and goes into the final week before the primary with $16,015 in cash on hand.

Most of Ballard’s contributions came from businesses and political action committees including BNSF Railway, the Kansas NEA and the Kansas Livestock Association.

She faces a political newcomer in the Democratic primary: Davis, 27, who works as a freelance writer, copy editor and math tutor in Lawrence.

Davis raised a little more than $1,400 for his bid to unseat Ballard and spent $968 of that leading up to the primary, leaving him with $455 on hand for the final week.

Davis is the only local candidate who reported raising money through the internet. He reported $350 coming in the form of “e-funds” from five individuals in Kansas and Kansas City, Mo.

In the 42nd District in eastern Douglas County, Rep. O’Brien had not yet turned in her finance report by 5 p.m. Monday, the official due date. But her last report, filed at the end of the 2014 election cycle, showed she spent a little less than $4,000 defending her seat that year, and she ended the cycle with almost $5,000 in her account.

But her challenger this year appears to be mounting a tougher campaign. Karleskint, a retired school superintendent, reported raising $6,475 since Jan. 1 and spent $4,421, mainly on mailings, yard signs and “push cards,” the small cards candidates hand to you or hang on your door knob when they campaign door to door.

Karleskint received at least a dozen individual contributions from people who identified themselves as educators. He also received a $500 contribution from the Kansas NEA.

O’Brien, 69, has worked as a special education teacher and substitute teacher, and she has been a strong supporter of Brownback’s policies in the House. She chairs the House Committee on Children and Seniors and is vice chair of the Special Committee on Foster Care Adequacy.