By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

Lee Jones has no problem admitting he’s an underdog to former U.S. Rep. Jim Slattery in the race for the Democratic Party’s nomination to challenge Pat Roberts for his U.S. Senate seat in November.

“I feel like an underdog,” said Jones, 57, a former railroad engineer who lives in Overland Park, in a telephone interview. “But I feel like I’m the best candidate because I’m a farmer and I’ve lived in Kansas this whole time, unlike Congressman Slattery.”

The winner of the party’s primary race on Aug. 5 will face Pat Roberts, the senior Republican senator and a fixture on Capitol Hill for more than 40 years.

According to the Federal Election Commission, from January of 2007 to March 31, 2008, Jones received $13,470 in campaign contributions. Slattery, meanwhile managed to raise $289,025 in that same time period, despite the fact that he did not even formally file to run for the post until June of 2008. He was the last candidate to file.

“Yes, there’s a difference between how much I’ve raised and how much Jim Slattery’s raised,” said Jones, who lost by a wide margin in a 2004 bid against Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback. “I’m hoping the citizens of Kansas understand I’m a working person; I’ve represented working people my entire life, and that sets me apart from what Jim Slattery has been.”

Slattery, 59, has spent the past 12 years working as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C., something Jones has been critical of on his Web site. Slattery defended his role as a lobbyist, and said he doesn’t believe it to be a disadvantage, because as a lobbyist he represented companies in the Midwest.

“I’m very proud of the work I’ve done for Kansas companies and Midwest companies over the last few years,” Slattery said by telephone. He added he has owned a home and maintained a farm in Kansas since 1972.

Both men said they see energy, health care and national security as the top issues for their race this year.

“Energy, the price of gas, fiscal issues,” Slattery said. “It’s important to figure out how to extricate ourselves from Iraq as quickly as possible. Pat Roberts has been just tragically wrong on all the issues that are vital to this country.”

Jones agreed that energy policy and addressing the high cost of fuel should be the nation’s top priority.

“The cost of energy is the No. 1 thing we need to address right now,” he said. “It affects everything we do, from the way we get to work, to how we get our crops in and manufacture goods.”

The underdog story is likely to continue no matter which candidate the party ends up fielding.

Roberts has received more than $2.6 million in campaign contributions from January 2007 to March 31 of 2008, and he has history on his side. It’s been more than 70 years since Kansas voters sent a Democrat to Washington in the Senate.