DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM) — Pennsylvania State Rep. Patty Kim, a Democrat who currently represents District 103 serving parts of Dauphin and Cumberland Counties, has announced a run for Pennsylvania State Senate.

Kim is looking to unseat the current 15th District State Senator John Disanto. DiSanto, a Republican and Senate Banking & Insurance Chair, has held the seat for two terms and is expected to run for re-election.

“Senator DiSanto has failed us with his eight years of low energy, a narrow mind, and no good ideas,” Kim said. “It’s time for Dauphin County to have an energetic champion, and I promise you that’s what I’ll be for all families of this district. This community knows who I am and they’ve seen how I fight for them.”

Kim currently lives in Harrisburg with her husband and son, and her daughter is a student at Temple University.

“I am so energized by the opportunity to represent even more citizens and families in this community,” Kim said in a statement. “This is my home and this county has shaped my adult life. My kids worked at Hershey Park, my husband and I hike the Stony Valley Rail Trail and I covered news across the county for years while working at a local television station. I know intimately the issues facing my neighbors here because they are the people I live next door to, do community projects with, see at the grocery store, restaurants and worship with.”

Leaning on her resume as a Harrisburg City Councilwoman and state house representative, Kim says she wants to enter the Senate to keep fighting for policies addressing paid family leave, minimum wage, gun violence, and affordable healthcare.

“My public service started in 2005 with a run for Harrisburg City Council when my daughter was just one year old. I wanted to help improve the city she was growing up in,” Kim said. “In 2012, I came to the state House with the opportunity to serve a broader portion of this community. I’ve fought for policies to help working families – raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour, providing paid family leave, addressing the rise of gun violence, and expanding access and affordability of healthcare. But under Republican leadership, those bills never even got a vote. This year under new leadership in the House, my proposed legislation has been adopted, but then went on to languish in the Republican-controlled Senate. I’m running to finish the work I’ve started.”

Kim has said that she will not seek re-election to her House seat while she runs for state senate.

“I didn’t think it was right to run for both seats,” Kim told Dennis Owens on Thursday. “Give it to somebody else, hopefully with, you know, more energy and better ideas, and then take all of my experience and hopefully get to the Senate. I think I would really like that and I think would be very productive.”