Wilborn is apparent winner in contested 35th District

Aug. 06--Marshall Christmann could have taken the easy road and ran unchallenged for his 113th House of Representatives seat.

But the Lyons Republican put his hat in the ring with four other Republican challengers, hoping to secure the last two years of an unexpired Senate seat.

At press time, Christmann was losing to Richard Wilborn, 69, a McPherson consultant who was the McPherson County Republican Party chairman for 12 years.

The outcome will likely be the next senator. No Democrats filed for the race.

Christmann, 38, of Lyons, is a chief negotiator and employee at Compass Minerals/Lyons Salt. He has served one term in the House.

Christmann would have been a shoe-in if he decided to run for his current 113th district seat. Instead, his chief of staff and political adviser Jeremy "Basil" Dannebohm, Ellinwood, filed to run for Christmann's spot while Christmann looked at the Senate. Dannebohm is administrator of the Ellinwood Chamber of Commerce.

Jay Emler, a Lindsborg Republican who resigned after being appointed to a four-year term on the Kansas Corporation Commission, vacated the 35th District seat last winter.

Clark Shultz, R-Lindsborg, filled Emler's vacant seat during the 2014 session. Shultz didn't run for the seat, however, because he was on the primary ballot for State Insurance Commissioner.

Other candidates include Nicholas Reinecker, 36, Inman, co-manager of an Inman cafe; Donald Hobson, 45, who is on the support staff of McPherson USD 418; and James Toews, 69, mayor of Inman who previously served on city councils in Lindsborg and Bristol, Tennessee, and is a retired business executive.

The 35th District is a horizontal shape over the state's mid-section. It encompasses all of McPherson, Ellsworth, Chase, Marion and Morris counties. Also, it covers much of Rice County, including the cities of Lyons, Sterling, Geneseo and Little River. It also covers small cities in Dickinson County, but not the county seat of Abilene.

At press time, Wilborn was ahead of Christmann by more than 2,000 votes with all but one precinct in Dickinson reporting and no results from Marion County. At 10:30 p.m., Wilborn had 3,259 votes to Christmann's 1,378. Hobson also appeared to be beating Christmann by several hundred votes.

Christmann won Rice County, but wins in his home county of McPherson, as well as Ellsworth, Chase and Morris pulled Wilborn ahead.

In Chase County, an election worker said the county still did not have electronic voting.

Neither Christmann nor Wilborn could be reached for comment. Christmann's phone went straight to voicemail and his voice mailbox is full. Several attempts were made to contact Wilborn.

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