photo by: Contributed

Steve Jacob

The first candidate has filed to run for the Lawrence City Commission race this year.

Steve Jacob told the Journal-World he filed to run for a seat on the City Commission Monday. Jacob has worked as an employee with the City of Lawrence for 34 years, including as a maintenance technician.

Jacob has previously run for the Douglas County Commission, where he was the Libertarian candidate during the 2022 and 2024 county elections. He lost the first time for the race for the District 1 seat against incumbent Patrick Kelly, and most recently lost the race for the District 4 seat to Gene Dorsey in the November 2024 election.

Jacob said he was running for a seat on the City Commission because of how local leaders “have no care for the working class.” Jacob said that the budgets are outrageous, and he wants to stop giving “handouts” to the rich.

Jacob is the first candidate to file for the the City Commission election this year. Two seats will be available, with Commissioners Lisa Larsen and Bart Littlejohn at the end of their four-year terms. Larsen and Littlejohn have yet to indicate whether they will seek another term.

The deadline to file for the election is June 2. Depending on the number of candidates, the primary would be held on Aug. 5. The general election will be held on Nov. 4.