‘Mary Ware is everywhere’: social justice activist will replace Sen. Lynn Rogers in Senate

Political newcomer and self-described “social justice activist” Mary Ware won a Kansas Senate seat with 10 votes.

Ware, who runs two CBD stores in Wichita and calls herself “a woman who speaks her mind,” will finish the term of Sen. Lynn Rogers in District 25 that represents parts of central and west Wichita, after being nominated at a Democratic party precinct committee convention on Saturday.

Rogers was elected lieutenant governor in November with governor-elect Laura Kelly of Topeka. Ware said she plans to run for the District 25 seat again in the 2020 election with a grassroots campaign.

One of five candidates nominated by a 17-voting-member committee, Ware received a majority of the votes, which were cast by secret ballot at a convention Saturday afternoon.

The convention was open to the public, but nominations were only allowed to come from the 17-member committee. Each nomination was followed by a round of speeches — up to three minutes for the person who made the nomination, two minutes for whoever seconded the nomination and five minutes for the candidates themselves.

After the speeches, committee members cast their votes on folded pieces of paper. A simple majority of nine votes was required to win. If no one got a majority on the first vote, the low-vote-getter would have been eliminated and another vote would have been held until a winner was selected.

But it didn’t come to that. Ware won on the first round of voting, trailed by Kelly Schodorf’s six votes.

Ware’s win was seen by some as an upset over Schodorf, who publicly announced her intentions to seek the seat in late November. Schodorf, a lawyer and daughter of former Sen. Jean Schodorf, who held the seat from 2001 to 2013, was the first candidate to throw her name in the hat for Rogers’ seat after the Nov. 6 election.

Ware said her top priorities are Medicaid expansion, marijuana legalization, criminal justice reform and representing all of her constituents — rich and poor alike.

“I don’t value a person based on wealth,” Ware said. “I don’t hold the wealthy person over the homeless person.”

Ware said she didn’t enter the race expecting to win and was “shocked” by her victory.

“There were some amazing candidates,” Ware said. “And we’re all in it together; there’s nothing but good will between us.”

Besides Ware and Schodorf, Sebatian Snow, Dan Stiffler and Ty Tabing were nominated, with Tabing receiving one vote and the others receiving no votes.

Ware said she’s ready for the challenge of being a state senator and knows it will be hard work to accomplish the kinds of changes she wants to see in Kansas.

“Everywhere you look, everywhere you turn, there’s something that needs fixed,” Ware said.

Ware said she thinks she’s the right person to work for those changes because of the work she’s put in as a social activist, calling herself “persistent.”

It was her persistence that excited the precinct committee members who nominated her.

Craig Lloyd, who nominated Ware, said her attitude rubs off on people. Her willingness to make a “personal connection” with him is the reason he has stayed involved in politics, he said.

Dennis Romero, who seconded Lloyd’s nomination, said he supported Ware because she doesn’t just talk the talk, she actually shows up.

“I’m a political activist,” Romero said. “I’m the guy that’s always out at the protest, that’s always at the rallies. I’m always out there. And where is Mary Ware? Mary Ware is everywhere.”

A newcomer to politics, Ware gave a passionate speech before votes were cast, vowing to listen to the diverse voices of her district and build bridges between community members.

“By listening, I will hold this seat from the ground up,” Ware said. “Together, we can do this.”

This story was originally published December 1, 2018 at 5:18 PM.