Want to be a senator? You just have to convince nine Democrats.

Seventeen Democrats will pick the next Kansas state senator from Wichita, according to party officials.

The 17 will gather Dec. 1 to select the new senator for the 25th District, which includes parts of central and west Wichita.

The current senator, Lynn Rogers, was elected Nov. 6 as lieutenant governor on the Democratic ticket with governor-elect Laura Kelly of Topeka.

Under state law, the selection of Rogers’ replacement falls to a kind of mini-convention of the Democratic precinct committee members in his district.

So far, only one candidate has publicly announced intentions to seek the seat, Kelly Schodorf.

Schodorf, a lawyer, is the daughter of former Sen. Jean Schodorf, who held the seat from 2001 to 2013.

Kelly Schodorf said she thinks she would be the best candidate to keep the seat for the Democrats in 2020 because of her near-lifelong residency in the district, name recognition and campaigning experience.

She said her top legislative priorities are ensuring that schools receive adequate funding and expansion of Medicaid to cover working poor people who make too much to be eligible for the state’s KanCare program but not enough to qualify for subsidized care through the federal Affordable Care Act.

At the Senate selection convention, all nominations will be from the floor and only a precinct committee member will be allowed to nominate someone.

That will be followed by a round of speeches — up to three minutes for the person making the nomination, two minutes for whoever seconds the nomination and five minutes for the candidates themselves.

Then the precinct committee members will vote by secret paper ballots.

If none of the candidates gain a majority in the first round, voting will continue until somebody does.

Only precinct committee members who were elected by voters in the Aug. 7 primary are eligible to vote, said Jimmy Yeager, vice-chairman of the Sedgwick County Democratic Party.

“Any precincts that were filled after that date aren’t eligible,” said Yeager, one of the party officials organizing the convention.

According to the Sedgwick County election office, there are 28 precincts in the Senate district. Each could have elected two precinct committee members, one man and one woman.

If all the Democrats’ precincts were filled, there would be 56 eligible voters to decide Rogers’ replacement. But precinct positions often go unfilled for lack of candidates seeking to run for them.

Levi Henry, a member of the Democrats’ rules committee, said the party is not asking potential nominees for the Senate seat to file any sort of application to be a candidate..

He said the party is not accepting advance nominations to avoid any complaints about party officials trying to influence the outcome.

Three of the 17 eligible voting members, including Rogers, are current members of the Legislature.

The other two are Democratic state Reps. John Carmichael and Tom Sawyer, who serve dual roles as lawmakers and precinct committee members.

Carmichael told The Eagle he has no interest in switching from the House to the Senate.

“I very much enjoy my colleagues in the House, both sides of the aisle,” he said. “I intend to stay there as long as my constituents continue to elect me.”

Sawyer couldn’t be reached for comment, but Democratic Party leaders said he has told them he doesn’t plan to seek the Senate seat.

The convention to replace Rogers will be at 1 p.m. Dec. 1 at the office of SEIU Local Union 513, 3340 W. Douglas, Wichita.

The proceedings will be open to the public.

This story was originally published November 26, 2018 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Want to be a senator? You just have to convince nine Democrats.."