photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

The Douglas County elections office at 711 W. 23rd St. is pictured Monday, Oct. 31, 2022.

A retirement by a longtime Lawrence legislator has created a three-way race to take his place in the Kansas House.

Brittany Hall, Brooklynne Mosley and Logan Ginavan are competing to become the Democratic nominee for Kansas House District No. 46. The seat has become open after Lawrence Democrat Boog Highberger chose not to seek reelection to the seat that he had held since 2015.

The district includes most of northeast Lawrence, generally north of 15th Street and east of Iowa Street.

Here’s a look at the three Democratic candidates. No Republican has filed for the seat, which is in a heavily Democratic district.

photo by: Submitted

Brittany Hall

Brittany Hall

It was a trio of values that led Hall to Lawrence 17 years ago: inclusion, diversity and compassion.

“Those same values are why I’m raising my son, Mateo, here,” Hall told the Journal-World. “I’ve become a member of this community, and I see all the good in it. I also see the need to protect and nourish the things that make Lawrence a home to so many.”

Hall describes herself as a half-Native, half-Mexican single mother who works multiple jobs. Additionally, she said “she comes from a background that set me up to fail,” including having an absent father and a drug-addicted mother who put her up for adoption.

In Lawrence, Hall has been heavily involved in education. She has taught at the Little Nations Academic Center and at Haskell Indian Nations University. She currently is the president of the Haskell National Board of Regents, and also has served on the board of Peaslee Tech in Lawrence.

In a response to a Journal-World questionnaire, Hall listed three issues she’ll work the hardest to support in the Legislature:

• Medicaid expansion. Hall said expanding the health insurance program is a “must.” She said numbers show 45,000 children would be helped be helped by the expansion, and many polls show that 75% of the state’s residents are in favor of working with the federal government to expand the program. “The only thing keeping it back is a Republican party that is more interested in saying no than governing,” she said.

• Support to help people feel safe in their identity. Hall said this issue is a personal one for her. She said she’s seen Lawrence make everyone feel welcome “not in spite of their identity, but because of it.”

• Working across the political aisle. Hall said the extremely gerrymandered districts in Kansas will make it difficult for Democrats to be in control of the Legislature at any point. She said her role as president of the Haskell board has given her experience in working across political differences to enact meaningful change.

photo by: Submitted

Brooklynne Mosley

Brooklynne Mosley

Mosley has been a member of Gov. Laura Kelly’s staff, is a U.S. Air Force veteran who has conducted refueling missions over Iraq, and currently is a professional political operative. Of all the unique experiences she’s had, she lists her efforts to help stop controversial Republican Kris Kobach from becoming the state’s governor in 2018 near the top of the list.

Mosley said she ran the field efforts for the Kansas Democratic Party in that election that Kelly ended up winning. Mosley went on to serve as Kelly’s deputy director of appointments, and has worked on multiple other campaigns for Democrats. She said that professional experience is needed in the Legislature.

“We don’t have enough Democrats winning seats or being recruited,” Mosley told the Journal-World. “I am the only one in this race that understands what we are up against in the statehouse and who can help be part of the solution.”

Mosley, who came to Lawrence in 2013 to study at KU on the GI Bill, said she’s also well equipped to work with people who have different viewpoints, saying she is “willing to have a conversation with anyone as long as the conversation is rooted in recognizing the basic human dignity of all people.”

In a response to a Journal-World questionnaire, Mosley listed three issues she’ll work the hardest to support in the Legislature:

• Anti-poverty/family stabilization efforts. She said a focus on anti-poverty legislation is “not only moral, but it is the best investment we could make for our people.”

• Protecting vulnerable Kansas youth. Mosley said she’s concerned the first bully many Kansas school children encounter is the Kansas Legislature. She said the state needs to do more to support equitable educational funding and gun violence prevention legislation.

• Dignity for older adults. Mosley said she supports property tax relief and affordable housing programs for low-income Kansans to help older adults deal with increased living costs.

photo by: Submitted

Logan Ginavan

Logan Ginavan

Ginavan is a political science student at KU, who says he’s ready to inject a new mentality into the Kansas Legislature.

“The main quality that I would bring to the legislature — that it desperately needs — is a young mentality,” Ginavan told the Journal-World. “The halls of the capitol are filled with representatives and senators still stuck in the last century, worrying about the problems of the past. We must worry about the problems that we will face in the future — the problems that I’m going to be dealing with long after they’re all gone.”

Ginavan also touts his experience working as an intern with Rep. Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat who serves as the minority leader in the Kansas House.

In a response to a Journal-World questionnaire, Ginavan listed three issues he’ll work the hardest to support in the Legislature:

• Citizen-based initiatives

• Increasing voting rights

• Marijuana legalization.