Wednesday, Nov. 05, 2008

Lynn attributes victory to campaign

Julia Lynn, the ninth district state senator, retained her seat in the Kansas Legislature on Tuesday night, by defeating challenger Ron Wimmer in decisive fashion.

Lynn, a Republican from Lenexa, was appointed in November 2006 to finish the term of retiring Kay O'Connor, who recently withdrew support for her successor.

In the end, it didn't matter. Lynn won her first official election by a margin of 55 to 45 percent.

"We felt very confident going in, because I had just an incredibly great campaign organization and a wonderful team, a great strategy, and the right message," she said. "And we delivered. It's that simple."

The hallmark of Lynn's campaign had been her door-to-door contact with voters in district nine. She estimated visting more than 5,000 homes in recent months.

That personal connection, she said, is part of what put her campaign over the top.

Ultimately, Lynn felt that the lessons she learned over the course of the campaign would help during her second term in Topeka.

"I don't think you get the real, total perspective of what the issues are in your district until you are actually standing on a doorstep, or in a group of your constituents," she said. "People are actually deciding whether or not you're enough like one of them to put you in a position where you're making decisions on their behalf."

With the economy looming large in the mind of the public, Lynn said she planned to focus on those issues closest to home, including the health of Kansas' economy and its close relationship with education.

She said the legislature needs to make sure that Kansas has available jobs for its students once their educations were complete. If the number of those seeking careers beyond the borders of the Sunflower State continues to increase, Lynn said, the economy would only continue to suffer.

"And I can tell you that the families I've talked to understand that concept," Lynn said. "They want to stay in Kansas, because this is a great place to be."

For more information on Julia Lynn, visit her Web site at www.joinjulia.com.

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