Kathleen Ann of rural Pennington County is a candidate for the South Dakota State House of Representatives from District 30.

Ann will face fellow Democrat Jacqueline Gerenz and Republicans Mike Verchio and Lance S. Russell. The four will vie for the two seats.

Ann fills a spot left vacant when David Melmer of Custer assumed a ballot vacancy for the South Dakota Senate.

Ann said District 30 is a large and diverse district that encompasses most of Pennington County and all of Fall River and Custer counties.

"This makes an excellent balance of candidates across an area of such contrasting lifestyles," she said.

Ann said the South Dakota government has for too long been an evolving tangle of patchwork non-solutions.

"Working together, we can find a better way," she said.

Ann, a Web designer and photographer, is lifelong resident of western South Dakota. Her family homesteaded in Pennington County in 1880.

She said her previous experience serving in the South Dakota Legislature, together with her experiences as a teacher and business owner, make her qualified to serve.

"I will work to bring understanding between my rural neighbors, urban folk and government and big corporations," she said.

If South Dakotans hope to solve common problems, they must work together to understand individual problems, she said.

"I look forward to lending my ears to the concerns and problems of District 30 and using my problem-solving skills and voice to working for better government for South Dakota," she said.