By Tim Carpenter
The Topeka Capital-Journal
Kansas gubernatorial candidate Ken Selzer selected on Monday a businesswoman from Goodland to be his running mate in a campaign for the Republican Party’s nomination.
Selzer, who is in his first term as state insurance commissioner, said Jenifer Sanderson’s success as a small business owner and her work on the board of the Kansas Chamber’s Leadership Kansas demonstrated a commitment to transforming the way state government operated.
“She brings a small business owner’s experience to fixing an overreaching government, a wealth of financial management education and a mother’s commitment to a better world for the next generation,” Selzer said.
Sanderson spent much of her working career in community banking and the financial management industry. She’s a graduate of Fort Hays State University and the Graduate School of Banking in Boulder, Colo.
She grew up in Plainville and was the first person in her family to earn a college degree.
In addition to working at Emprise Bank in Hays and First National Bank in Goodland, Sanderson was involved with a family-owned Sonic Drive-In in Goodland.
In a statement, Sanderson said state government must be reshaped to improve schools, create jobs capable of supporting families, bolster the agriculture economy and demonstrate “more respect for our individual liberty.”
“Kansas can do better. We can get more from every tax dollar,” Sanderson said.
Candidates for governor are required to file by June 1 and declare a running mate. In Kansas, the governor and lieutenant governor candidates run as a pair. The primary election is in August.
Secretary of State Kris Kobach selected as his running mate Wichita businessman Wink Hartman, who also had campaigned for the Republican nomination for governor. Gov. Jeff Colyer is campaigning with Lt. Gov. Tracey Mann.