TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - A Kansas House member has unseated a state senator who was a key figure in a bitter legislative stalemate over political redistricting in the state's Republican primary.
Rep. Jim Denning had 60 percent of the vote against fellow Overland Park resident and state Sen. Tim Owens in the 8th Senate District in suburban Kansas City.
Owens was chairman of the Senate Reapportionment Committee, and conservatives frequently accused him of trying to redraw the state's political boundaries to help fellow GOP moderates. Owens said conservatives hoped to use new maps to hurt moderates.
With majority Republicans feuding, lawmakers failed to approve any redistricting legislation, leaving the job of setting new boundaries to three federal judges.
Both Owens and Denning raised more than $60,000 through late July for their campaigns.
