Luci Larson Is Back on the Ballot: Inside Her Years in Salina and Saline County Government

Former Salina Mayor and Saline County Commissioner Luci Larson will appear on the November ballot as the Republican candidate for Kansas House District 69 after being selected by Republican precinct committee members Thursday.

Larson replaces incumbent Republican Rep. Clarke Sanders as the party's nominee. Sanders withdrew from the Nov. 3 general election because of health issues but has said he intends to complete his current term, which ends in January. Sanders was unopposed in the August Republican primary.

Larson will face Democratic nominee Miranda Bachman in the general election.

Larson has not previously served in the Kansas Legislature, but she has a public record in Salina and Saline County government dating back more than a decade.

Selected at Republican convention

Larson did not compete in the August Republican primary for House District 69. Sanders was the only Republican candidate in that primary.

After Sanders withdrew from the general election, the Saline County Republican Party scheduled a Sept. 10 convention to select a replacement nominee.

According to the party's convention announcement, eligible voters were Republican precinct committeemen and committeewomen residing within House District 69 who had been elected in the Aug. 4 primary.

Larson defeated Paul Gebhardt Jr. at the convention. The Sunflower State Journal reported that 14 votes were cast.

Former Salina mayor and city commissioner

Larson previously served on the Salina City Commission.

Official City of Salina records from the Smoky Hill River Renewal planning process identify M. Luci Larson as mayor during the project's 2009 phase and as a commissioner during its 2010 phase.

A City of Salina budget document dated July 6, 2009, was addressed by City Manager Jason Gage to “Mayor Larson and Commissioners,” further confirming Larson was serving as mayor at that time.

City planning records also list Larson among the City Commission members alongside Mayor Aaron Peck during a later phase of city planning.

Larson attempted to return to the City Commission in 2021 after Commissioner Rod Franz resigned.

She was one of 11 applicants for the vacancy, including six former commissioners. The commission ultimately voted unanimously to appoint former mayor Aaron Peck.

Appointed to Saline County Commission by Gov. Sam Brownback

Larson later served on the Saline County Commission.

Saline County voters approved expanding the commission from three members to five in the November 2014 election.

Then-Gov. Sam Brownback appointed Larson to the newly created District 4 seat and David Smith to the District 5 seat in December 2014. Their appointments became effective Jan. 12, 2015.

Brownback's announcement described Larson as a small-business owner who had previously served on the Salina City Commission and as mayor.

The two appointed commissioners were to serve until the seats could be placed before voters.

One of her first County Commission votes

Larson was sworn into office Jan. 12, 2015, along with Monte Shadwick and David Smith.

Immediately afterward, the newly expanded five-member commission met and reversed a decision made by the previous three-member commission to eliminate four upper-management positions.

The positions were county administrator, Road and Bridge director, Planning and Zoning director and Health Department director.

The motion to reverse the earlier decision passed 4-1. John Price cast the lone dissenting vote, meaning Larson was among the four commissioners voting to restore the positions.

The previous commission had voted 2-1 on Dec. 30, 2014, to eliminate the positions. Price said at the time the move would save the county a little more than $400,000 annually.

County commissioner salaries

Another early vote involved compensation for members of the expanded County Commission.

Before expansion, members of the three-person commission received approximately $28,000 annually, with an insurance option that could bring the total compensation package to approximately $39,000.

In February 2015, commissioners voted 3-2 to continue the approximately $28,000 salaries for Jim Gile and John Price, who had served on the previous commission, while setting salaries for the three new commissioners at $12,000 annually.

Gile, Price and Smith voted in favor.

Larson and Shadwick voted against the proposal.

Contemporaneous reporting explained Shadwick's reasons for opposing the proposal, but did not provide Larson's reason. For that reason, Larson's motive for voting no should not be inferred from Shadwick's comments.

County leadership roles

By 2016, Larson was serving as secretary of the Saline County Commission.

During the commission's January 2016 reorganization, Chairman Monte Shadwick suggested Larson become commission chair, citing her organizational ability, ability to run meetings and interest in parliamentary procedure.

The commission instead retained Shadwick as chairman. John Price became vice chairman and Larson became secretary.

Larson's county assignments that year included the Salina Airport Authority, Salina-Saline County Building Authority and Tri-Rivers Fair Board.

Vote on election equipment

In June 2016, commissioners considered purchasing new election equipment.

County Clerk Don Merriman had begun planning for replacement equipment several years earlier. The county had accumulated $187,500 in a capital improvement fund for the project.

After accounting for trade-in value, the proposed purchase would have required an additional $392,836 from the 2017 budget. The proposal also involved ongoing licensing and warranty costs.

The proposed system allowed voters to use paper ballots and also produced a physical paper record when touchscreen equipment was used.

Larson and Shadwick voted to purchase the equipment.

Price, Smith and Gile voted against the purchase at that time, defeating the proposal 3-2.

Larson said during the discussion that, with future state fiscal issues and tax limitations looming, she was willing to make the purchase at that time.

Vote against terminating Road and Bridge director

In May 2016, the County Commission voted 3-2 to terminate Road and Bridge Director Gary Nash as his probationary period neared its end.

Price, Gile and Smith voted to terminate Nash.

Larson and Shadwick voted against the motion.

The contemporaneous report does not provide Larson's reasoning for her vote.

At the same meeting, commissioners unanimously approved an interlocal agreement involving Saline County, the Salina Airport Authority and the Sheriff's Department to provide law-enforcement support as scheduled commercial airline service resumed at Salina Regional Airport.

2017 county budget and mill levy

One of Larson's final major votes as a county commissioner came during adoption of the 2017 county budget.

The commission approved the budget 4-1 in August 2016.

The adopted budget included a one-mill reduction in the county's property-tax mill levy and a $750 annual salary increase for county employees.

Larson cast the only vote against the budget.

Contemporaneous reporting states Larson advocated keeping the mill levy at the existing level rather than reducing it by one mill.

County Administrator Rita Deister explained that changing the proposed levy at that stage would have required republishing the budget and waiting 10 days before approving another budget.

Commission Chairman Shadwick said the approved budget represented an 8.2% increase compared with the 2016 budget despite the one-mill reduction.

The accurate description of Larson's position is that she opposed the budget containing the one-mill reduction and advocated keeping the mill levy unchanged. The record does not show that this particular vote was a vote to increase the mill levy above its existing level.

Saline County Jail concerns

The Saline County Jail was also a major issue during Larson's county tenure.

In August 2015, the county reported having spent more than $1.7 million housing inmates in neighboring counties because of insufficient space in the existing jail.

At the time, 77 Saline County inmates were being housed elsewhere.

Larson publicly described the jail as one of the commission's most difficult issues and discussed the need to address the cost of sending inmates to other counties.

The jail operating at that time had been completed in 1995 and was built for 192 inmates, according to the contemporaneous report.

Departure from the County Commission

Larson did not seek reelection to the County Commission in 2016.

Contemporaneous coverage of the election-equipment debate specifically noted that neither Larson nor Shadwick was running for reelection that year.

Larson's county service ended in January 2017.

Robert Vidricksen, Rodger Sparks, James Weese and Mike White were sworn in as new commissioners on Jan. 9, replacing outgoing commissioners Price, Gile, Smith and Larson.

No Kansas Legislature voting record

Larson has never previously served in the Kansas Legislature.

As a result, she does not have a Kansas House or Senate roll-call voting record on the major state issues lawmakers regularly consider.

Her documented government voting record comes instead from her previous service on the Salina City Commission and Saline County Commission.

The county record includes votes involving government staffing, commissioner compensation, election equipment, county personnel and the county budget.

Positions Larson takes on issues that were not before her during her local-government service should not be attributed to her without a direct statement, campaign document or other verifiable source.

November election

Larson is now the Republican nominee for Kansas House District 69.

She was selected after Sanders withdrew from the general-election ballot for health reasons. Sanders has said he intends to complete his current House term through January.

Larson will face Democratic nominee Miranda Bachman in the Nov. 3 general election.

The winner will be elected to the House District 69 term beginning in January 2027.