Editor’s note: In the interest of full disclosure, Sean Tevis is married to a Star editor, Michelle Tevis.

Sean Tevis may never have considered himself a “counter-political candidate” or even a “cool maverick."

But don’t tell that to Julie Barko Germany, director of the Institute for TevisTevisPolitics, Democracy & the Internet at George Washington University's Graduate School of Political Management — "Sean is that."

Tevis, a 39-year old Democrat from Olathe, was featured today in the Los Angeles Times as the new breed of politician who has embraced the Internet to answer the daunting first-time candidate question:

How in the world do I raise the cash to beat the incumbent?

His answer: Draw a cartoon

Tevis has created a stick figure online cartoon strip to appeal to potential supporters — wherever they might be —  in his challenge of GOP stalwart Arlen Siegfreid.

“Local political advisors warned the campaign novice that he would need a war chest of at least $26,000 to compete against his entrenched Republican rival,” wrote P.J. Huffstutter in today’s issue of the Times.

SiegfreidSiegfreidIn Kansas, state rep races rarely pull in donations from more than a couple hundred people, so the five-digit figure seemed like a fortune.

"I figured I'd raise a few thousand dollars, at most," said Tevis, a computer systems manager who works for an industrial manufacturing company.

Before creating the strip, Tevis spent weeks asking cash-strapped friends and family for help. He walked door-to-door, raising $1,525.

The comic strip was first posted online July 16. Today, he reported that he has raised $95,162.76 in donations through PayPal, the online service that allows payments and money transfers via the Internet.

Like Barack Obama has transformed the way presidential candidates use the Internet to reach volunteers and donors, Tevis' success underscores how online grass-roots efforts are also revolutionizing races close to home, Hufstutter wrote.

"This shows how all political races could be done in the future: drawing support across state lines and around a community of common interests, instead of just where people vote," said Barko Germany, the political scientist.

The strip is peppered with online geek-speak and its message is “barely concealed exasperation with his opponent's social conservatism and a political process where the candidate with the most money often wins.”

"Relax," a bearded stick figure consoles the Tevis figure in one strip. "You just need 52 people who can donate $500."

Tevis' character replies, "I know two."