2024 Kansas General Election Report

It was a big night for Republicans, both nationally and across the state, as Kansans saw a red wave sweep through, which many were not predicting. Donald Trump will be the 47^th President of the United States; the Democrat-held U.S. Senate flipped Republican; and both the Kansas Senate and Kansas House not only retained their supermajorities but grew them.

Here’s the shorthand as of this morning:

There were 107 contested out of 165 total seats in the Kansas Legislature, 32 in the Senate and 75 in the House.

The Democrats needed to flip three seats in the Senate and two seats in the House to break the Republicans’ supermajorities. Rather, Republicans expanded from 29 to 31 Senate seats and from 85 to 88 House seats. The ever-growing purple Johnson County was critical to the Democrats’ strategy; and many thought their chances were strong, especially in the Kansas City suburbs areas.

Governor Laura Kelly (D) raised over $2 million for her “Middle of the Road” PAC and focused spending in a handful of key races in the Senate and a dozen in the House. Unfortunately, it was not enough to pick up any seats in either Chamber. This greatly reduces the odds of her vetoes being sustained during her last two years in office.

Below are some of the closely watched key races last night.

Senate District 5: Incumbent Jeff Pitman (D-Leavenworth) lost to challenger Jeff Klemp by 60 votes. A ballot recount is expected.

Senate District 10: Incumbent Mike Thompson (R-Shawnee) beat challenger Andrew Mall with 52% of the vote.

Senate District 11: Incumbent Kellie Warren (R-Leawood) beat challenger Karen Thurlow with 52% of the vote.

Senate District 22: Incumbent Usha Reddi (D-Manhattan) lost to challenger Brad Starnes by 531 votes.

Senate District 23: Current House member Adam Thomas (R-Olathe) beat opponent Stacey Knoell with 53% of the vote. This was an open seat held by Republican Rob Olson who did not seek reelection.

House District 8: Incumbent Chris Croft (R-Overland Park) beat challenger Pam Shernuck with 55% of the vote.

House District 14: Incumbent Dennis Miller (D-Olathe) lost in a rematch to former Representative Charlotte Esau by 439 votes.

House District 28: Incumbent Allison Hougland lost to challenger Lauren Bohi by 131 votes.

House District 28: Incumbent Carl Turner (R-Leawood) beat challenger Ace Allen with 51% of the vote.

House District 30: Incumbent Laura Williams (R-Lenexa) beat challenger Betsey Lasister with 53% of the vote.

House District 39: Incumbent Angela Stiens (R-Shawnee), who replaced Owen Donhoe at the end of the 2024 session, beat challenger Vanessa Vaughn West garnering 52% of the vote.

House District 49: Incumbent Nikki McDonald (D-Olathe), who replaced Brad Boyd mid-term, beat challenger Kurtis Ruf by 95 votes.

House District 88: Incumbent Sandy Pickert (R-Wichita), beat challenger Veronica Gillette with 52% of the vote. 

House District 102: Incumbent Jason Probst (D-Hutchinson) lost to challenger Kyler Sweely by 249 votes.

Kansas’ congressional races also trended Republican, with only one seat remaining Democrat. Former Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt (R) beat former Congresswoman Nancy Boyda with 57% of the vote in House District 2. This was an open seat currently held by Republican Jake LaTurner who did not seek reelection.

Incumbents Tracey Mann (R), Sharice Davids (D), and Ron Estes (R) beat their challengers in House Districts 1, 3, and 4, respectively.

Kansas House and Senate Leadership Election’s will take place on December 2^nd. Top Leaders in both bodies is likely to remain the same, with Representative Dan Hawkins, (R-Wichita) reelected as Speaker of the House and Senator Ty Masterson, (R-Andover) reelected as Senate President.

As the dust settles and provisional ballots are counted, we’ll continue to monitor these results and send out any important updates.

Please visit the Kansas Secretary of State’s website here for all of last night’s unofficial results.