(KAIR)--A Democratic challenger has entered the race for the Kansas 1st District Senate seat.

Dustin Brinkman, of Hoyt, announced this week that he has launched what he calls his NextGen Kansas campaign.

The seat is currently held by rural Hiawatha Republican Dennis Pyle who is currently serving his fourth, 4-year term.

The position will come up for election in the fall of 2020.

According to a news release issued by Brinkman’s campaign, he is a fifth generation, lifelong Kansan who is concerned that northeast Kansas is losing residents, businesses, and farms each year.

In the release, Brinkman says the top priority for Kansas should be “to support rural areas through equality in economic development dollars, push to expand affordable broadband services, repair [the] crumbling roadways, support health care, and fully fund [Kansas] schools.”

Brinkman, in the release, says the top focus of his NextGen Kansas campaign is “to slow the net population loss in rural Kansas.”

Brinkman currently serves as a council member for the City of Hoyt, and has a wife, Emily, and two children.

The Kansas Senate 1st District includes the counties of Atchison, Brown, Doniphan, Jackson, and Nemaha, as well as parts of Marshall and Pottawatomie.