Caryn Tyson, who is putting the wraps on her first term in the Kansas House of Representatives, was the only declared candidate as of this morning for Kansas Senate District No. 12.
The senate district encompasses all of Allen, Anderson, Franklin and Linn counties, as well as southern Miami and northern Bourbon counties.
The decision to run for Senate came after she saw the legislative boundaries. Her old House district was among those most affected by the new political boundaries.
“I would have kept only 6 percent of my old district,” Tyson told the Register in a telephone interview. “The Senate district covers just about what my former district covered, so it’s a natural fit.”
Iola and other parts of Allen County are without an incumbent senator or representative now that a panel of federal judges has reset political boundaries in the state.
That no other candidates have filed for the Senate also played a role in her decision to vie for the Senate seat, Tyson said.
Tyson describes herself as a conservative Republican. Her highest priorities are economic development and cutting “wasteful spending.”
Tyson introduced a bill that would have prevented any Kansan from recouping more in income taxes than what they spent.
The bill gained approval from the House Taxation Committee, but was not included in the state’s final tax plan. Had it passed, Tyson estimated the state would have saved $97.5 million.
Tyson, 49, works in computer software development. She and her husband, Tim, also operate Tyson Ranch near Parker. They’ve been married for more than 23 years.
A fifth-generation Kansas, Tyson grew up in north-central Kansas, where her parents owned the Glasco Locker Plant.
