By Cole Reif
Ellinwood resident Alicia Straub is set
to become the third representative for the 113th District of the Kansas House of Representatives in a span of four years. Straub, the current Barton County Commissioner, was voted in Tuesday night at the Pratt Community Center during a special convention. Straub will take over for Greg Lewis, who resigned from office February 22 to fight a cancerous brain tum
For Barton County, that will soon leave them a commissioner short following the anticipated resignation from Straub. Barton County Clerk Donna Zimmerman says Straub is expected to attend the next Commission meeting.
Republican precinct committee members of the 113th District met following the resignation of Lewis. Straub was one of three candidates vying to replace Lewis, and the 40-year old received 51 of the 91 votes cast. Governor Laura Kelly must officially appoint Straub to the seat.
As for Straub’s replacement on the Barton County Commission, Zimmerman noted that whoever is selected to fill Straub’s seat will serve two years of her four-year term until the 2020 election.
According to the Barton County handbook, when a Commissioner vacancy occurs before May 1 of the first even-numbered year following the beginning of a term, the position will be filled by appointment until the next election. The Barton County Republican Committee will meet shortly after Straub’s anticipated resignation next week to appoint her replacement.
Straub’s 4th District in Barton County represents a small portion of southern Great Bend, Ellinwood, Dundee, Pawnee Rock, and the townships of Clarence, Liberty, South Bend, Comanche, Lakin, and Pawnee Rock.
As the 113th District Representative, Straub will represent Stafford and Pratt counties, and parts of Barton, Pawnee, and Rice counties.
Lewis took over the 113th District after being appointed to replace J. Basil Dannebohm in 2015. Dannebohm was fighting Parkinson’s disease when he chose to resign.