There’s a new Senate district in Kansas, and it pairs up northwest Lawrence with large parts of east Topeka. It also has attracted a full field of candidates seeking to fill the new seat that was created as part of the once-per-decade redistricting process that state law requires.

Kansas Senate District 19 has three Democrats vying for the seat, and two Republicans. In Lawrence, the district covers the area north of Sixth Street, between Queens Road and Kasold Drive. It also includes the city limits of Lecompton and the rural area surrounding it. A significant amount of the population in the district, though, is in eastern Topeka.

Here’s a look at the Democratic candidates vying for the seat.

photo by: Submitted

Vic Miller

Vic Miller

Miller is a Topeka resident but has picked up on a Douglas County fact this election cycle — the county is losing at least three of its incumbent legislators. Rep. Boog Highberger and Sen. Tom Holland are both retiring, and either Rep. Christina Haswood or Sen. Marci Francisco also will exit the Legislature, as those two are squaring off in a primary.

Miller said that means legislative experience is going to be at a premium next session, and he’s touting his experience this campaign. Miller is currently serving his third term in the Kansas House, and is the minority leader — the top ranking Democrat — in the House. Now, he wants to return to the Senate, where he had previously served two years. He’s also a past Topeka City Council member and Shawnee County commissioner.

Miller said he also understands what a couple of the top issues in the district should be.

“The 19th District Senator must be a leading advocate for those that work in either the Capital Area Complex or at Kansas University, as well as a spokesperson for funding KU itself,” Miller told the Journal-World via email.

Miller, an attorney who also worked as a field director for the Kansas Democratic Party early in his career, said he “will never back down from a battle” to support the trio of issues that he thinks all Democrats in the Legislature are pushing for — reproductive rights, expansion of Medicaid, and adequate funding for public education.

Three issues that he said he would fight hard to support are:

• Increases in state employee salaries

• Reductions in residential property taxes

• Elimination of the Medicaid waiver waiting list for families of those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

photo by: Submitted

Patrick Schmidt

Patrick Schmidt

For Schmidt, the events of Jan. 6, where rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, played a big role in his decision to get into politics. He already has experience as a public servant. He served in the U.S. Navy as an intelligence officer, and currently serves in the U.S. Naval Reserve. But he didn’t think politics was in his future.

“I witnessed the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol and never thought I would be called to public service, but I felt compelled to run because I felt the need to protect our way of life from those who seek to destroy it,” Schmidt told the Journal-World via email.

Schmidt, a Topeka resident, has his undergraduate degree in international relations, and served more than five years of active duty in the U.S. Navy before becoming a Naval reservist.

He said as a legislator he would battle hard-line Republicans on a trio of issues.

“I will fight for hard-working Kansas families, especially fighting extremist Republicans who are seeking to ban abortion, wreck the Kansas economy with irresponsible tax giveaways and their refusal to fully fund education and expand Medicaid,” he said via email.

ShaMecha King Simms

Simms did not respond to multiple requests for information from the Journal-World. According to her campaign website, she is an educator and a Topeka resident, who serves as the president of the Historic Old Town Neighborhood Improvement Association in Topeka.

On her campaign website she says the state has “an outdated unemployment system, a broken foster care system, and state infrastructure that needs updating, including security against cyber attacks.”

She also said on the site that the Senate district “deserves a fresh perspective from a woman who has spent years working and living in the community.”

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Here’s a look at the Republican candidates vying for the seat.

photo by: Submitted

Cynthia Smith

Cynthia Smith

Smith is the only Douglas County resident in the race for the Senate district, but she has traveled far and wide from the Lawrence area, often on issues involving government matters.

Before retirement, Smith was an attorney who worked for a number of industries that needed representation before governments, ranging from work on the aftermath of the Tylenol drug tampering crisis to representation for the American Association of Blood Banks during the height of the AIDS epidemic.

Smith, who has been a Lawrence resident since 1995, said she’s learned how to work with everybody from members of Congress to state legislators, and she thinks being a Republican will help her serve the district in the Kansas Statehouse that is full of Republicans.

“This senate district needs a moderate Republican, and I have a wide breadth of relevant professional and life experience to bring influence to the role,” she said via email to the Journal-World. “I will work as a fiscal conservative on the monetary issues, which should be a priority for the legislature, and as a moderate by demanding separation of church and state.”

In response to a questionnaire from the Journal-World, Smith listed three issues she will fight the hardest to support as a legislator.

• Legislation that supports restraint in taxes and spending, calling that the “strength of a Republican.”

• Proper access to health care. Smith said the state needs to “find the balance between expanding Medicaid and incentivizing the working poor to acquire low-cost health insurance” available through the federal marketplace.

• Opposition to bigoted legislation. “I will fight against legislation that is founded in conspiracy theories, bigotry, or oppression of marginalized populations,” Smith said via email. “I intend to demonstrate every day that I am not out of touch with voters.”

photo by: Submitted

Tyler Wible

Tyler Wible

Wible, a Topeka resident, owns his own construction and development company that specializes in the rehabilitation of historic commercial buildings. He deals with a heavy dose of regulations at the state and local level, which he said gives him a sense of matters that need to be fixed at the Statehouse.

“It has shown me a lot of holes and problems we have as to why a lot of people just don’t move to Kansas,” Wible told the Journal-World. “We have a population and growth issue. Our infrastructure is failing in a lot of these areas and safety issues. A lot of this comes down to our guidelines for infrastructure.”

Wible said being a younger candidate — he’s a 2016 graduate of Topeka High — will bring a valuable voice to the Legislature.

“My experience is based in today’s problems,” Wible said. “I’ve experienced poverty. I’ve gone through the school systems we have today.”

Wible discussed three issues he will fight the hardest to support as a legislator.

• Support for lower property and income taxes. “That is where population comes in. A higher population is the way to increase the tax base. We shouldn’t be increasing just what everybody pays.”

• Informed communities. He said he feels like many things in government are “hidden.” He said as a lifelong resident of the district, he will attend many community events and give them a chance to meet and know their senator.

• Promoting youth involvement. He said many youth are “kept in the dark” about matters of community concern and don’t know how to be involved in politics and voting.