TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- The Kansas Democratic Party has a new communications director.

Dakota Loomis has spent the past three years as deputy chief of staff for Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor. He served before that as research director for then- Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

His appointment was announced Tuesday by Jason Perkey, executive director of the Kansas Democratic Party.

Loomis is a Lawrence native and son of Burdett Loomis, a prominent University of Kansas political science professor who spent a year on Sebelius' staff.

The younger Loomis holds a law degree from New York University. He also worked previously in the division of the Kansas attorney general's office that handles civil cases.