photo by: Shutterstock photo

The Senate chamber of the Kansas Statehouse is pictured July 23, 2014 in Topeka.

SHAWNEE — A former Kansas City-area TV meteorologist has won a Kansas Senate seat being vacated by the retirement of one of the Legislature’s most conservative members.

Mike Thompson, who served as chief meteorologist for WDAF until he retired in 2018, was chosen Saturday to replace retiring Republican Mary Pilcher-Cook.

Thompson, of Shawnee, has said he plans to fill the remainder of Pilcher-Cook’s term and then run in the primary for a chance at a full four years in November 2020, the Kansas City Star reports.

Earlier last year, two other candidates — Republican state Rep. Tom Cox and Shawnee City Councilwoman Lindsey Constance, a Democrat — said they planned to run for the seat.