Ben Hodge to resign at end of session

Prime Buzz Blog is reporting that Ben Hodge is going to resign form the Kansas House at the end of the veto session.


Rep. Ben Hodge, an Overland Park Republican whose district includes part of east Olathe, announced Tuesday he will resign from the Legislature next month.

Hodge, a member of the Johnson County Community College Board, said he's planning to move to northeast Johnson County where he grew up.

He said his resignation from the Kansas House will become official at the end of the Legislature's upcoming wrap-up or veto session, which begins April 30 and will last six or seven days.

Reports have been circulating for weeks that Hodge was planning to run for a higher office in the northeast part of the county. Mentioned was a possible run for the state Senate in either Sen. Barbara Allen's or Sen. David Wysong's district.

In a letter stating his intention to resign, he did not indicate whether he would seek a different public office.

Hodge was elected to the Kansas House in 2006 when former Rep. Scott Schwab, currently county GOP chairman, ran unsuccessfully for the Congress.

According to state law, Republican Party officials have 21 days to hold a convention to replace Hodge. The clock started Tuesday when the secretary of state's office received Hodge's resignation letter.

The convention will be made up of committeemen and committee women from Hodge's 49th District.

The person they elect will then fill out the rest of Hodge's two-year term in the House. That term runs out this coming January.

Schwab said he might be interesting in seeking his old House seat but needed to discuss it with his family before making that decision.

Hodge's district is east of Interstate 35 and goes as far east as Quivira Road in Overland Park. About one fourth of the district is in Overland Park and the rest is in Olathe.