The November general election is almost here, and many of Douglas County’s 14 candidates who are running for the Kansas House of Representatives have laid out their priorities.

Among a list of issues, candidates mentioned affordability, property taxes and public education. Others said data centers and healthcare are their top choices.

Nine House districts in Douglas County will be up for reelection, but only five are contested: Districts 5, 42, 43, 47 and 117.

Early voting in Lawrence begins Wednesday at the Douglas County Elections Office, 711 W. 23rd St, and will end at noon Nov. 2. Voters must show up in-person and bring ID. Eudora, Baldwin City and Lecompton’s in-person early voting locations will open Oct. 24. Lawrence will have three additional locations open for early voting on Oct. 26. More information about polling locations, dates and times is available on the Douglas County elections website, dgcoks.gov/county-clerk/voting-and-elections.

Election Day is Nov. 3, with polls open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The Journal-World reached out to all 14 candidates and asked them to list their top three issues if elected, their qualifications, and what separates them from their opponent (if contested). See the candidates’ responses below.

District 5

Courtney Sappington

Sappington, the Republican in the race, is the incumbent. She describes herself as a fiscal and social conservative who believes in smaller government.

Among her top priorities, Sappington mentioned property tax relief, deregulating the economy and reforming the foster care system. Sappington and her husband are the foster parents to two of their three children. They live in rural Douglas County.

Sappington said she believes in reducing the size of government so Kansans can have more freedom to self-govern, which she said is the best way to improve the state both socially and economically.

On her campaign website, Sappington said she will work to reduce the tax burden by supporting standardized tax auditing and introducing legislation requiring more transparency on how tax dollars are spent.

Sappington was appointed to her seat in 2025 when Rep. Carrie Barth resigned in the fall. She won her primary race in August after beating two opponents.

Before running for office, Sappington worked in supply chain and logistics. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Truman State University and a master’s in global management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management, an affiliated school at Arizona State University.

Henry Johns

Johns is a Democrat and an Army veteran who spent 48 years in the healthcare industry. During that time, he worked as a licensed respiratory therapist, a pulmonary function technologist, registered polysomnographer and manager. After retiring, he became a substitute teacher in Lawrence and Baldwin City.

Johns’ three top priorities are funding public education, making healthcare more accessible and lowering property taxes. He said he supports expanding KanCare — Kansas’ Medicaid program — closing the insurance gap and helping hospitals and clinics in rural areas stay open. Kansas is among states with the highest number of rural hospitals at risk of closing.

Johns has a bachelor’s degree in organizational management from Friends University. He ran unopposed in the primary and lives in rural Douglas County, where he raised horses for 30 years.

District 10

Suzanne Wikle

Wikle, a Democrat, is running unopposed in the general election. She won her primary race in August after beating T.J. Campsey. She was first elected to her district in 2024.

Wikle’s top three issues center on affordability. She wants to lower the cost of healthcare and expand Medicaid; she wants affordable education by funding public schools, including affordable childcare; and she wants to raise the state’s minimum wage — which currently is the same as the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. During last year’s session, Wikle and more than a dozen of her Democratic colleagues in the House sponsored a bill to raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour. The bill did not pass.

Wikle also wants to implement policies to provide certain tax benefits, including a renter’s tax credit and a child tax credit.

A mother of two, Wikle has been an advocate of childcare affordability for Kansans throughout her career. She spent seven years at Kansas Action for Children, a children advocacy nonprofit based in Topeka, where she advanced policies expanding KanCare’s Children’s Health Insurance Program.

District 42

Lance Neelly

Neelly, the Republican incumbent, did not provide responses to the Journal-World’s questionnaire.

Neelly has been representing District 42 since 2021 after unseating Rep. Jim Karleskint in the 2020 Republican primary. He is married and a father of four, according to his Facebook page. His occupation, according to his Kansas legislature webpage, is listed as security supervisor.

Neelly advanced to the general election after narrowly defeating his opponent, Mike Stieben, by less than two percentage points.

Brandon Wendt

Wendt, a sheet metal worker with 16 years of experience, is the Democrat in the race.

His top three issues are taxes, healthcare and funding education. According to his campaign website, Wendt also supports Medicaid expansion.

Wendt opposes data centers. He said he will listen to all constituents, not just those who voted for him. He is married and a father of a first-generation college graduate.

District 43

Bill Sutton

Sutton, the incumbent, did not provide responses to the Journal-World’s questionnaire.

A Republican, Sutton has been representing District 43 since 2013. The district sits on the border of Douglas and Johnson counties and covers parts of Palmyra in Douglas County, and parts of Olathe, Gardner and Edgerton on the Johnson County side.

Sutton works in inventory control for Steel and Pipe Supply. He is the chair of the insurance committee and the vice chair of the special committee on pharmaceutical studies.

Kristen Schultz

Schultz is the Democrat in the race. She has been a small business owner in Gardner and Edgerton for more than 20 years. She has 25 years of experience in childcare and formerly served on the Gardner Edgerton School Board for nearly seven years. Before owning her business, Schultz worked as a paralegal in corporate and civil litigation.

Schultz’s top three priorities are lowering property taxes, funding public education and passing a measure that will allow Kansans to propose citizen-led ballot initiatives.

Schultz said she wants to work on meaningful tax relief to make life more affordable for Kansans, including families, seniors and homeowners. She also wants to increase teacher pay in public schools and make sure special education is fully funded. Schultz said schools should have the necessary resources so every child is educated without having to shift the burden of funding onto taxpayers.

Schultz wants to address the growing ubiquity of data centers and flock cameras, which she intends to do through her citizen-led ballot initiative proposal.

District 44

Barbara Ballard

Ballard, the Democratic incumbent, did not provide responses to the Journal-World’s questionnaire. She is running unopposed in the general election.

Originally from Petersburg, Virginia, Ballard has been serving District 44 since first being elected in 1992. Her district is one of only four with its boundaries entirely within Douglas County. (The others are Districts 10, 45 and 46.)

Ballard has been associated with the University of Kansas since 1980. She previously served as associate vice provost for student success, associate dean for student life, and as senior associate director of outreach for the Dole Institute of Politics, among other roles. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Washburn University and both her master’s and doctorate in counseling from Kansas State University.

Ballard serves as the ranking minority member on three committees, including appropriations, the House select committee on government oversight, and the legislative budget committee.

District 45

Mike Amyx

Amyx, the Democratic incumbent, is running unopposed in the general election. He has been serving District 45 since 2019. The district covers parts of Lawrence and the townships of Lecompton and Wakarusa.

His top three issues are lowering property taxes, funding public education and addressing the cost of living by helping reduce prices on housing, groceries and services.

Amyx has been a lifelong officeholder in Lawrence and Douglas County. He served on the Lawrence City Commission from 1983 to 1988 and from 2005 to 2018. He was mayor of Lawrence for six terms between 1985 and 2017, and he spent several years on the Douglas County Commission.

He graduated from Lawrence High School and attended KU. Until recently, he owned Amyx Barbershop in downtown Lawrence. He said owning a small business prepared him for public office. He is married and has one son.

District 46

Brooklynne Mosley

Mosley did not provide responses to the Journal-World’s questionnaire. A Democrat, she is the incumbent and is running unopposed in the general election.

Mosley is a U.S. Air Force veteran who has conducted refueling missions over Iraq.

During the last legislative session, Mosley sponsored several bills to provide property tax exemptions. She also sponsored a healthcare measure to expand Medicaid eligibility.

Mosley attended KU in 2013 and previously served as Gov. Laura Kelly’s deputy director of appointments.

She was first elected to her district in 2024 after defeating two primary opponents. She succeeded Boog Highberger, who held the seat for a decade and did not seek reelection.

District 47

Paula Ellis

Ellis did not provide responses to the Journal-World’s questionnaire.

A Republican from Meriden, Ellis is running to replace her husband, Ronald Ellis, who has been holding the seat since 2017. She is a former hospital administrator who has campaigned on lowering property taxes, and other policies to help the agricultural community and small businesses.

Ellis advanced to the general election after beating two primary opponents and winning 45% of the vote.

Most of District 47 is in Jefferson County. It covers a small portion of Jackson County and a northwestern part of Douglas County, including parts of Lawrence and the townships of Lecompton and Wakarusa.

Mary Williams

Williams is the Democrat in the race. She has been a middle and high school teacher at the Jefferson West School District for 25 years and works as a teacher-leader consultant for the Kansas State Department of Education.

Before becoming a teacher, Williams owned and operated several daycare centers in Winchester and Nortonville in Jefferson County. She is the president of her local teachers union and previously served as treasurer for the cities of Winchester and Oskaloosa.

These experiences, Williams said, gave her unique insight into childcare and local government issues — which she believes would help her be an effective legislator.

Her top three priorities are funding public education, affordability and protecting voting rights.

Williams said that public and special education should be fully funded, and that a lack of funding would push the burden onto local districts. She wants to make housing more affordable and expand Medicaid to help disabled and elderly constituents.

Williams said that the proposed constitutional amendment voters will see on their ballots in November — which will ask voters whether they want to add a requirement that only those who are U.S. citizens are eligible to vote in Kansas elections — is “a smoke and mirrors tactic,” and that Kansas already has strict voting laws. She believes that if it passes, many Kansans, including women, would lose their ability to vote.

District 117

Adam Turk

Turk, the incumbent, did not provide responses to the Journal-World’s questionnaire.

A Republican, he is a small business owner and 20-year military veteran who has deployed to Afghanistan.

His platform on his campaign website includes providing tax relief to seniors and families, funding schools and protecting Kansas farmland from foreign interest.

Turk has served the 117th district since 2023. The district covers parts of Douglas and Johnson counties, including parts of Lawrence and Eudora. He ran uncontested in the primary and chairs the higher education budget committee.

Brandon Holland

Holland, the Democrat in the race, is an equipment operator and forklift driver for a school goods distributor. He grew up in rural Douglas County and is a graduate of Lawrence High School and KU, where he received a bachelor’s degree in political science.

Holland’s professional resume includes roles as a bouncer, a busboy, an independent contractor, liquor store manager and IT contractor. He believes that his work experience is his most important qualification for political office — and also what separates him from his opponent.

Holland’s top three issues are addressing the cost of living, providing better access to mental healthcare and regulating data centers. He believes that as one of the richest countries in the world, Americans shouldn’t have to choose between paying for medication and putting food on the table.

Holland wants to expand access to mental healthcare services, something he has personal experience with as a former rugby player. He said that it’s crucial for everyone to have access to whatever treatment they need so they could be productive members of society.

He ran uncontested in the primary.