TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The conservative chairman of the Kansas House’s pensions committee has ousted a veteran moderate state senator in a Republican primary race.
Rep. Mitch Holmes of St. John received 53 percent of the vote Tuesday against Sen. Ruth Teichman, of Stafford, in the 33rd District of central and western Kansas. There is no Democratic candidate running.
Holmes has been chairman of the pensions committee the past two years, when lawmakers approved legislation designed to improve the long-term financial health of the state pension system for teachers and government workers. However, Kansas stopped short of moving to a 401 k-style plan for new employees.
Teichman has held her Senate seat since 2001 and is chairwoman of the Senate Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee.