Here's why Shawnee County Commissioner Aaron Mays says he is seeking reelection

Incumbent Shawnee County commissioner and local small business owner Aaron Mays is running for the District 3 commission seat he has held since September 2019.

Mays, a Republican, said he would like to finish the assignments need by the county.

"I feel like there's a lot of unfinished business," he said, "so I want to run for re-election simply so that I can see some of these projects through that we started, but then there's also a few things that I would like to see get done that haven't gotten done yet."

Mays said he feels like a lot of his first term was taken up by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"So we kind of put a pause on just about everything that we were doing," he told The Capital-Journal. "Those projects that we were supposed to get done two years ago are just now starting to really come to fruition."

No other candidates have filed to run in District 3, which covers south-central and southeast Shawnee County. Mays filed April 5.

One of the projects Mays would like to see through is the Auburn interchange project.

"I really feel like I need to see that one through. When we had those three little girls die in that car crash out there, it put that at the top of my priority list," Mays said. "So, working alongside the other commissioners and the turnpike to try and get that project done is a high priority for me."

The 11 members of the Shawnee County delegation in the Legislature met December 2023 and voted to draft a letter to send to the governor, Kansas Department of Transportation, Kansas Turnpike Authority and Shawnee County Commission after seeing no apparent progress toward building a new Kansas Turnpike exit near Auburn.

More: Here's how much the median Shawnee County home sold for in January

Commissioners serve four-year terms. This year's deadline to file to run for office will be at noon June 3. Primary elections will be Aug. 6, with general elections Nov. 5.

Shawnee County Republican officials voted September 2019 to appoint Mays to fill the unexpired term of Commissioner Bob Archer, who resigned while dealing with health concerns.

Mays is a lifelong Topekan and a sixth-generation Kansan. He co-owns the Mays Group, a government relations firm specializing in business issues facing the state of Kansas.

Mays graduated from Topeka High School and Washburn University and has a master's of business administration from Baker University. He has been involved with numerous community organizations.

More: Real estate broker Henry McClure files for Shawnee County Commission race

Keishera Lately is the business reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. She can be reached at klately@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @Lately_KT.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Shawnee County Commissioner Aaron Mays files for reelection