Three candidates representing Northeast Wichita are running unopposed but would still appreciate votes of confidence from their constituents
Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau has represented Kansas’ 29th District since 2008, making history as the first African-American woman to serve in the Kansas Senate. She previously served two terms in the Kansas House of Representatives. She’s been elected by her peers to serve as the Senate’s assistant minority leader.
She successfully supported Ban-the-Box to help integrate the formerly incarcerated, introduced and helped pass a bill expanding grandparents rights and in 2024 helped significantly improve Kansas’ laws making it harder to suspend a person’s driver’s license and making it easier for individuals with suspended licenses to get their licenses back.
Kansas House Reps K.C. Ohaebosim and Ford Carr are also running unopposed. Rep. Ohaebosim has represented the 89th District since 2016, while Rep. Carr is completing his first two-year term, representing Kansas’ 84th District, previously held by the late state Rep. Gail Finney.
Among Ohaebosim’s most recently co-sponsored bills are: abolishing the death penalty and creating the crime of aggravated murder; releasing any person convicted of a drug offense involving marijuana from such person’s sentence and providing for the expungement of any associated records; and providing for sales tax exemptions for hygiene products.
In his first term, Rep.Carr has proven to be a strong advocate for Black and Brown Kansans. In addition to cosponsoring many of the same bill as Ohaebosim, he also fought to include measures in proposed cannabis legalization to provide economic and legal consideration and relief for Black-and-Brown communities that have borne the brunt of the challenges brought on by the nation’s decades-long War on Drugs.
