photo by: Associated Press

Kansas state Sen. Vicki Schmidt, R-Topeka, makes a comment during a Senate Ways and Means Committee discussion of budget proposals, Monday, March 20, 2017, at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

Topeka ? State Sen. Vicki Schmidt, of Topeka, has jumped into the open Republican race for Kansas insurance commissioner.

Schmidt announced Monday that she has filed paperwork to run for the office, which is in charge of regulating all types of insurance sold in the state of Kansas. In a statement, though, Schmidt said one of her main focuses would be on health insurance.

“On the journey of life there are challenges, but insurance shouldn’t be one. I’m running for Insurance Commissioner because Kansans deserve an advocate when it comes to insurance,” she said in the statement.

Incumbent Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer is stepping down from that job this year to run for the GOP nomination for governor.

Schmidt, 62, works as a pharmacist in Topeka. She currently chairs the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee and the Child Welfare System Task Force. She also chairs budget subcommittees on health and social services.

Sen. Vicki Schmidt, R-Topeka

In 2017, Schmidt was among the 25 senators who voted in favor of expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Gov. Sam Brownback eventually vetoed that bill, and an effort to override that veto fell short in the Kansas House.

Schmidt will face Deputy Insurance Commissioner Clark Schultz, of McPherson, in the Republican primary. Schultz announced for the post in October, and he raised just over $128,000 in the last few months of the year, according to his campaign finance report.

So far, no Democrats have announced plans to run for insurance commissioner.

Schultz also ran for the office in 2014 but placed third in a five-way primary behind Selzer and Beverly Gossage.