Former Rep. Steve Brunk announced Wednesday he's running for an open seat on the Sedgwick County Commission.
Dave Unruh has held the District 1 seat for the last 16 years, and said Wednesday that he wouldn't seek re-election.
Brunk served in the Kansas Legislature as a Republican from 2003 to 2016. He is also a former executive director for the Family Policy Alliance, a conservative advocacy group.
Brunk resigned from the Legislature after he wascriticized for planning to stay in office while working for the conservative organization.
Brunk says that unlike his position in the Legislature, the role of county commissioner is less ideologically driven and is more about proper management. He says he will work on maintaining the assets the county already has.
"We have certain things that I would consider real treasures that need to be protected," Brunk says. "The Sedgwick County Zoo, for example, the arena that we have, all of those are real life-enhancing entities."
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Stephan Bisaha is the education reporter for the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KMUW, Kansas Public Radio and KCUR covering health, education and politics. Follow him on Twitter @SteveBisaha.
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