Standing in front of the fourth district congressional delegate selection committee, Lee Kinch, state party chair, urged Bernie supporters present to consider running for office. He listed off the names of unopposed Republicans and said: “Let’s take your energy to the state house.”
Numerous Bernie supporting delegates signed up and committed to a race — but for Gabriel Costilla, a teacher from West High in Derby, Kansas, the goal wasn’t just to put a name on a ballot in a race Democrats viewed a difficult one to win.
Costilla announced early that he would challenge Ty Masterson (R-District 16, Derby), a prominent conservative who many believed was set to sail into the state house in 2016. Despite Masterson’s 2011 bankruptcy and business failure, not many Democrats wanted to take on Masterson, who sits on a considerable finance holdings.