This year's primary elections for state races in Kansas will feature more Democrats than ever.

After the filing deadline for the Aug. 5 primary arrived Tuesday, state Democratic leaders announced that the coming legislative, school board and congressional races would include 154 Democratic candidates, compared to 135 in 2004.

Democrats still lag behind their Republican counterparts in traditionally red Kansas, even though GOP numbers have slipped to 196 candidates this year, down from 234 in 2004.

Some of the difficulties for the Kansas GOP reflect those of their party nationwide. Also, ongoing infighting among moderate and conservative Republicans in Kansas is aiding Democrats as more voters grow weary of the GOP rift.

Still, while the state Democratic Party has cause to be encouraged, it's come up short in challenging a number of area legislators, including House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls.

Considering what happened in the recent legislative session, when efforts to overturn a state regulator's decision to block proposed expansion of the Sunflower Electric Power Corp. plant at Holcomb fell short, it's surprising Neufeld will go unchallenged.

As an ardent supporter of the plant expansion, Neufeld helped make the issue the focus of the session. Yet even in his powerful role as House speaker he failed to deliver votes needed to override Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' vetoes of bills that would have cleared the way for the project -- something Senate President Steve Morris, a Hugoton Republican, did accomplish in his chamber.

With that in mind, it's a wonder other Republicans haven't pressed for more moderate GOP candidates, who generally are better at crafting compromise, to make a move on seats held by Neufeld and other conservatives.

And Democrats missed out on a chance to take advantage of their party's momentum in failing to recruit candidates locally. Other notable Republican lawmakers in the area without opponents are Garden City's Jeff Whitham, Gary Hayzlett of Lakin and Larry Powell, Kalvesta.

Every incumbent should be challenged, whether at the local, state or federal level.

A lack of competition only encourages a lazy, unresponsive government. Voters need choices, which ensures they'll have access to exchanges of ideas and discussion of issues that help improve government -- something everyone, regardless of their party affiliation, should find easy to embrace.