Kansas state Sen. Laura Kelly (D) announced Thursday that she is ending her campaign for the 2nd district seat that first-term Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R) is defending.

Kelly, who initiated her campaign in October, said in a statement that she made “a very hard decision— to withdraw from the race because she could not honor her legislative duties and run a full-fledged Congressional campaign at the same time.

“As the financial condition of this state has worsened, it has become clear that there are not enough hours in the day or days in the week to make it possible for me to fulfill my duties as a state senator who is the ranking member of the Senate’s budget committee and be a fulltime candidate for Congress,— Kelly said.

Kelly’s departure leaves the Democrats without a candidate in the 2nd district, a Republican-leaning area in and around Topeka where Jenkins defeated then-Rep. Nancy Boyda (D) in the 2008 election.

State Sen. Dennis Pyle (R) is challenging Jenkins in the Republican primary election.