Incumbent Republican Melissa Rooker faces Democrat Matt McCann

REPUBLICAN

Age: 52

Education: Bachelor of fine arts, art history, University of Kansas

Occupation: Retired film executive (15 years with Malpaso Productions, vice president of development)

Elected experience: Kansas state Rep. 25th District, 2012-present

Website: melissarooker.com

I am running for re-election to continue to be a strong voice for the families in my district. The legislature faces heavy lifting in the form of balancing the budget, stabilizing our revenues and crafting a new school finance formula. These issues are much too important to be left in the hands of partisans who prefer playing political games to serious consensus-building and problem-solving. I remain committed to a thoughtful, transparent process that includes all stakeholder voices, provides meaningful reform, protects our communities, restores our faith in our system and gets Kansas back to the basics we value.

DEMOCRAT

Age: 36

College: Bachelor of science, theater, Kansas State University

Occupation: Administrative/Accounting

Elected experience: Voted district-level delegate for Bernie Sanders, Kansas Senate District 7

Website: mattmccann.org

I believe that politics should be about ideas and not at all about raising money from corporations or the donor class. I believe in clean energy over fracking. I believe in equal pay for equal work. I believe in Black Lives Matter and the cause of criminal justice reform. I believe in funding our public infrastructure and educating our public. I believe in the inevitability of universal health care. I believe that right-wing economics has utterly failed. Kansas deserves so much better than its current leadership.