2022 Kansas General Election Report

While 29,000 mail-in ballots have not been returned and provisional ballots are still being tallied, Kansans woke up today to more certainty and fewer surprises than many expected.

Here’s the shorthand as of Wednesday afternoon.

Democrat Governor Laura Kelly was reelected to another term last night, defeating Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt by 14,255 votes. Unaffiliated candidate Senator Dennis Pyle received 19,762 votes, which Republicans feared and predicted could be taken from Schmidt in a three-way race.

Kelly won eight out of the 105 counties in Kansas: Wyandotte, Johnson, Douglas, Shawnee, Riley, Geary, Lyon, and Sedgwick. In her victory speech, she gave a glimpse into what her initiatives will be over the next four years, including Medicaid expansion and legalizing medical marijuana.

Republican Kris Kobach beat Democrat Chris Mann in the race for Attorney General by 22,828 votes.

All other statewide offices were won by Republicans. Incumbents Secretary of State Scott Schwab won with 59% of the vote and Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt won with 63% of the vote. Republican candidate for State Treasurer Steven Johnson beat incumbent Democrat Lynn Rogers with 54% of the vote.

In the Kansas House of Representatives, both parties failed to flip as many seats as they were expecting. Republicans still hold the supermajority with 85 seats. A net loss of one from last year, the GOP remains veto-proof to override a Governor’s veto.

Johnson County was the most watched and had the most upsets last night, where Republicans lost three seats and gained two, all within close margins:

·      District 14: Incumbent Charlotte Esau (R) lost to challenger Dennis Miller (D) by 184 votes.

·      District 15: Matt Bingesser (R) lost to Allison Hougland (D) by 92 votes. This seat was held by Republican John Toplikar who resigned earlier this year.

·      District 49: Kristin Clark (R) lost to Brad Boyd (D) by 125 votes. This seat was held by Republican Megan Lynn who did not seek reelection.

·      District 33: Bill Hutton (D) lost to Mike Thompson (R) by 380 votes. This seat was held by Democrat Tom Burroughs who did not seek reelection.

·      District 88: Incumbent Chuck Schmidt (D) lost to challenger Sandy Pickert (R) by 193 votes.

When it comes to Kansas’ federal races, it was also a successful night for Republicans with only one seat remaining Democrat. Congresswoman Sharice Davids (D) beat challenger Amanda Adkins (R) for a second time with 55% of the vote in district three.

Otherwise, all other Republican congressional incumbents beat their Democrat challengers. U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R) beat Mark R. Holland (D) with 60% of the vote. U.S. Congressmen Tracey Mann (R) beat James Beard (D) with 68% of the vote in district one, Jake LaTurner (R) beat Patrick Schmidt (D) with 68% of the vote in district two, and Ron Estes (R) beat Bob Hernandez (D) with 64% of the vote in district four.

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.