Don Shimkus, a school board member from Oxford and current president of the Kansas Association of School Boards, announced Wednesday that he will run as a Democrat for a seat in the Kansas Senate.

Shimkus is challenging incumbent Republican Steve Abrams of Arkansas City in the 32nd District in south-central Kansas. Abrams is a veterinarian and chairman of the Senate Education Committee.

Shimkus is the manager of a music store in Andover.

Abrams is a former member of the Kansas State Board of Education, where he gained notoriety as a conservative who championed deleting references to macro-evolution from state science standards and changing the definition of science in a way that would have allowed the teaching of “intelligent design.”

“I am genuinely concerned about the inequality of our current tax structure, the future of rural medical care, and the inadequate funding of public education,” Shimkus said in a statement released Wednesday. “I fear that, in all aspects, our rural population – which makes up a significant part of our state – is being forgotten in Topeka. Our district needs an advocate who understands how this population greatly contributes to the livelihood and well-being of our great state.”

Shimkus will likely face an uphill battle. Republicans make up 49 percent of the registered voters in the 32nd District. Democrats make up only 22 percent, while 28 percent are unaffiliated.

According to an analysis by Kansas University political science professor Patrick Miller, Republican Gov. Sam Brownback carried the district in 2014 with 53 percent of the vote. In 2012, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney got 67 percent of the district’s vote.

Shimkus said he and his wife, Keri, have lived in the district for 20 years. They have two sons, a freshman at Kansas State University and a sophomore at Oxford High School.