Local candidates for Kansas House seats who took part in a forum in Lawrence Sunday night included, from left, Democrats Terry Manies and Kara Reed, Republican Rep. Tom Holland, Democratic Rep. Barbara Ballard, and Republican candidate Jim Karleskint. Michael Lindsey, who is on the ballot challenging Ballard in the 44th House District, did not attend the forum.

Topeka ? New campaign finance reports this week show that some local legislative races may be more competitive than they have been in the recent past, although incumbents still hold a sizable fundraising advantage.

The most competitive local race, however, will likely be the 42nd District House race, which is an open contest this year after incumbent Rep. Connie O’Brien, R-Tonganoxie, was defeated in the Republican primary in August.

The general election race now features Republican Jim Karleskint, a retired school superintendent who unseated O’Brien, against Democrat Kara Reed, a teacher and Tonganoxie city councilwoman.

During the primary, Karleskint raised nearly $6,500 and spent about $4,400 of that to defeat O’Brien, leaving him with only about $2,000 heading into the general election.

That gave Reed, who had no primary race, a head start in the general election because she had alrady raised more than $12,000. Since then, Reed has outspent Karleskint, $18,084 to $13,540.

Reed received most of her money from individuals and labor unions, her report shows, while Karleskint’s donations have come largely from businesses and political action committees.

In the 45th District House race in western Douglas County, Democrat Terry Manies of Lecompton raised a little more than 10,000 and spent nearly $11,500 in her challenge to unseat longtime Republican incumbent Rep. Tom Sloan of Lawrence.

Sloan, however, had a considerable warchest of more than $51,000 heading into the election and has spent a little more than $19,000 to hold on to his seat.

Manies received the bulk of her donations from individuals, including several from California and other states. Sloan received most of his donations from political action committees, businesses and individuals.

The 44th District House race in Lawrence is not competitive. Rep. Barbara Ballard, a Democrat seeking her 13th term in the Legislature, faces only nominal opposition from Republican Michael Lindsey, who is not actively raising money or campaigning.

Ballard still raised about $16,700 during the general election cycle, spent a little more than $7,000, mainly on newspaper ads and mailings, and will end the campaign with a little more than $25,000 in her account.

In area Senate races, 2nd District Sen. Marci Francisco, a Democrat, had a sizable fundraising lead over her GOP challenger Meredith Richey, but Richey’s fundraising was not inconsiderable.

Francisco entered the cycle with more than $45,000 on hand, raised an additional $27,000 and spent a little more than $31,000. Her contributions came from a mix of individuals, businesses and political action committees.

Richey came into the general election cycle with more than $10,000 on hand, raised an additional $15,000 and spent about $21,000. Her contributions came mainly from individuals but they also included political action committees representing bankers and the Kansas Chamber.

In the 3rd District Senate race, Democratic incumbent Tom Holland of Baldwin City and his Republican challenger Echo Van Meteren of Linwood reported very similar numbers, on paper at least.

Holland had nearly $94,000 in cash on hand at the start of the general election cycle. He raised another $58,000 and spent $97,000. But $50,000 of that spending went to repay a loan he made to his own campaign earlier in the year, which means he spent about $47,000 in direct campaign expenses.

Meanwhile Van Meteren has raised more than $41,000 since August, but that included a $25,000 loan from her husband, GOP political strategist Kris Van Meteren. She spent about $41,000 in campaign expenses.

New GOP PAC

Republican legislative candidates statewide, meanwhile, had access to a new source of donations this year, a state political action committee set up by Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins of Topeka.

Jenkins, who is said to be eyeing the race for governor in 2018, established the PAC in March as a way of helping state-level GOP candidates. The Jenkins Ad Astra PAC made $500 donations to 33 of the 36 Republican candidates for the Kansas Senate, and it made $250 donations to 65 of the 106 GOP House candidates.

Those included donations to Senate candidates Richey and Van Meteren as well as Sloan.

Jenkins’ PAC notably did not contribute to State Sen. Dennis Pyle’s re-election campaign. In 2010, when Jenkins was running for her second term, Pyle challenged her for renomination but lost, 43-57 percent.

Jenkins also did not contribute to Sen. Caryn Tyson of Parker, whose Democratic challenger has dropped out of the race. And she did not contribute to Senate candidate Jim Price of Wichita, who has a number of criminal convictions on his record.