Laura Kelly To Run for 2nd CD (Ks)

State Senator Laura Kelly has confirmed that she will challenge rookie Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins for Kansas' Second Congressional District. Jenkins attracted national attention when she said Republicans were looking for a "Great white hope" to run against Obama and seemed blithly unaware of the racist history and connotations of her remarks. And that was just one of Jenkin's many failures.

Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly confirmed Friday plans to campaign for the congressional seat now in the hands of Rep. Lynn Jenkins, a Topeka Republican who unexpectedly defeated an incumbent in 2008.

Kelly, a Topekan who is in her second term in the Senate, said she would share with voters her "reputation and history of working across party lines" to advance public policy in the Legislature.

"I actually walk the walk," she said. "Kansas families in the 2nd District deserve a representative who will energetically stand up for their most important concerns -- their pocketbooks, their jobs and their health care -- not sit back and block progress in Washington."

State Senator Tom Holland had been rumored to be interested in the race, but he seems to be fully behind Kelly's candidacy.

Kelly has a Facebook page, ActBlue account and a campain twitter account, which are good signs. Not so good, the twitter page isn't customized and has too many @ posts.

More seriously, unlike Raj Goyle who is running for the open 4th District, Kelly doesn't yet have a 2010 campaign website setup to gather email addresses and contributions.

Still, Kelly is a serious candidate and the 2nd District should be a real donnybrook.