Manhattan City Council Member and former Mayor Usha Reddi tonight was elected to fill the Kansas Senate District 22 seat retired by 2 ½ term Sen. Tom Hawk, D-Manhattan.

Reddi, who in 2020 briefly ran for U.S. Senate, defeated Riley County Democrat Chair Katie Allen, Manhattan, 24 to 19 for the seat, said Brennan Walter, Riley County Democratic Party vice chair, who managed the convention because Allen was a candidate.

Hawk’s retirement will be Tuesday, and Reddi can be sworn into office that day. Reddi will serve out the last two years of Hawk’s term before considering a bid for election in 2024.

Senate Democrats Friday plan to make their 2023 session committee appointments, and they may call for some shakeups in their committee memberships because Hawk held ranking minority status in Senate Transportation and Ways/Means committees, plus a slot on the Utilities Committee.

Hawk previously served in the Kansas House from Manhattan from 2005 to 2010.