Kerry Gooch announced Tuesday night that he will soon step down as executive director of the Kansas Democratic Party.

Gooch first started working for the party four years ago at age 22. He became executive director in 2015 after what had been, for Democrats, a disappointing election cycle the year before. That was when the party narrowly lost the governor’s race and lost five seats in the Kansas House.

He then helped steer the party through a much more successful campaign in 2016 when Democrats saw a net gain of 12 seats in the House and one seat in the Senate.

During a telephone interview Wednesday morning, Gooch said he told the party’s executive committee that he would stay on board long enough for them to hire a replacement, a process he said might take about 60 days. He also said he has no immediate plans for what he will do next, but he indicated it’s likely he will be seen on the campaign trail in 2018.

“Now is the time for the KDP to move into the next phase as we head towards the 2018 elections. I’m ready for my next adventure — maybe I’ll have time to join my county party or finally get good enough to beat my 93-year-old grandfather in a round of golf,” Gooch said in a statement released by the party Tuesday night.

Gooch is the grandson of former state Sen. U.L. “Rip” Gooch, of Wichita.