By TIM CARPENTER
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Republican state Sen. Dennis Pyle filed paperwork to launch a campaign for Kansas governor and enter a race that features Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Gov. Laura Kelly.
Pyle, a Hiawatha farmer among the Senate’s conservative members, said he submitted documents Monday night. The filing deadline is Friday for the Aug. 2 primary election.
He would be the third Republican candidate for governor in 2022. In addition to Schmidt, Republican Arlyn Briggs of Kincaid is a GOP candidate.
Kelly is seeking reelection to a second term against Emmett resident Richard Karnowski, a Democrat.
Pyle, 61, has served in the Kansas Legislature for nearly 20 years. He was in the Kansas House from 2001 to 2003, but lost a race for reelection. He assuming a seat in the Kansas Senate in 2005. In 2020, he easily won reelection to his northeast Kansas seat in the Senate with more than 70% of the vote.
In 2018, Pyle entered a crowded GOP field in an attempt to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins. He finished fifth in the 2nd District’s Republican primary won by Steve Watkins, who served one term before ousted by U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner.
In announcing his congressional candidacy four years ago, Pyle said “no matter how crowded the field, there is always room for a genuine, proven conservative who represents rural Kansas values.”
Pyle also challenged Jenkins in the Republican congressional primary in 2010. He lost to Jenkins, but earned about 43% of the vote.