2018 Kansas elections

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2018 Kansas elections

← 2016 November 6, 2018 2020 →

A general election was held in the state of Kansas on November 6, 2018. Primary elections were held on August 7, 2018.

Voters elected all six executive officers, the lower house of the state legislature, and all of the state's delegations to the U.S. House.

U.S. House of Representatives[edit]

Kansas elected four U.S. representatives, one for each congressional districts. In 2018, the delegation's Republican majority changed from 4–0 to 3–1, the first time Democrats have held a seat in the state since 2010.

District Republican nominee Democratic nominee Libertarian nominee
District 1 Roger Marshall (i) 68.15 Alan LaPolice 31.85
District 2 Steve Watkins 47.64 Paul Davis 46.80 Kelly Standley 5.57
District 3 Kevin Yoder (i) 43.91 Sharice Davids 53.57 Chris Clemmons 2.52
District 4 Ron Estes (i) 59.44 James Thompson 40.56

Governor and Lieutenant Governor[edit]

Incumbent Republicans Jeff Colyer and Tracey Mann lost their party's renomination in a tight primary election won by Secretary of State Kris Kobach and businessman Wink Hartman by a margin of around 0.1 percent.[1] Democrats nominated state senators Laura Kelly and Lynn Rogers, with businessman Greg Orman and state senator John Doll joining the race as independents.[2] Polls leading up to the election had Kobach and Kelly running close, leading to many news outlets predicting a tossup election.

Kelly won the election, beating Kobach by five percentage points. Kelly became the oldest governor in Kansas history, taking office at the age of 68.[3]

2018 Kansas gubernatorial election[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Laura Kelly / Lynn Rogers 506,727 48.01 Increase 1.88
Republican Kris Kobach / Wink Hartman 453,645 42.98 Decrease 6.84
Independent Greg Orman / John Doll 68,590 6.50
Libertarian Jeff Caldwell / Mary Gerlt 20,020 1.90 Increase 2.15
Independent Rick Kloos / Nathaniel Kloos 6,584 0.62
Total votes 1,055,566 100.00
Democratic gain from Republican

Secretary of state[edit]

Incumbent Republican secretary of state Kris Kobach retired to run for governor, leaving the seat open. State representative Scott Schwab won the Republican primary amidst a number of candidates, while Democratic nominee Brian McClendon ran unopposed after his challengers withdrew. Schwab won the election.

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Scott Schwab 108,705 38.34
Republican Randy Duncan 57,236 20.19
Republican Dennis Taylor 56,537 19.94
Republican Craig McCullah 32,615 11.50
Republican Keith Esau 28,426 10.03
Total votes 283,519 100.00

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary[6]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Brian McClendon 139,457 100.00
Total votes 139,457 100.00

General election[edit]

2018 Kansas Secretary of State election[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Scott Schwab 549,416 52.60 Decrease 6.57
Democratic Brian McClendon 458,142 43.87 Increase 3.04
Libertarian Rob Hodgkinson 36,882 3.53
Total votes 1,044,440 100.00
Republican hold

Attorney general[edit]

Incumbent Republican attorney general Derek Schmidt ran for re-election to a third term. He successfully defeated Democratic nominee Sarah Swain by 18 points.

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Derek Schmidt (incumbent) 269,212 100.00
Total votes 269,212 100.00

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Sarah Swain 140,503 100.00
Total votes 140,503 100.00

General election[edit]

Results by county:
  Swain
  •   Swain—50–60%
  •   Swain—60-70%
  Schmidt
  •   Schmidt—50-60%
  •   Schmidt—60-70%
  •   Schmidt—70-80%
  •   Schmidt—80-90%
  •   Schmidt—>90%
2018 Kansas Attorney General election[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Derek Schmidt (incumbent) 614,436 58.98 Decrease 7.79
Democratic Sarah Swain 427,289 41.02 Increase 7.79
Total votes 1,041,725 100.00
Republican hold

Treasurer[edit]

Incumbent Republican treasurer Jake LaTurner was appointed to the office on April 25, 2017, following the resignation of his predecessor Ron Estes to join the U.S. House of Representatives. He ran for election to a full term, defeating his Democratic challenger State Senator Marci Francisco by 15.49 points.

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Jake LaTurner (incumbent) 258,796 100.00
Total votes 258,796 100.00

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Marci Francisco 141,214 100.00
Total votes 141,214 100.00

General election[edit]

2018 Kansas State Treasurer election[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Jake LaTurner (incumbent) 598,392 57.75 Decrease 9.78
Democratic Marci Francisco 437,879 42.26 Increase 9.78
Total votes 1,036,271 100.00
Republican hold

Insurance Commissioner[edit]

Incumbent Republican Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer retired to run for governor, leaving the seat open. Republican state senators Vicki Schmidt and Clark Shultz competed in a close primary, with Schmidt winning the nomination. The Democratic nominee was president of the Kansas NAACP Nathaniel McLaughlin. Schmidt won the election with the highest vote percentage of any statewide candidate.

Republican primary[edit]

Republican primary[5]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Vicki Schmidt 152,706 52.01
Republican Clark Shultz 140,887 47.99
Total votes 293,593 100.00

Democratic primary[edit]

Democratic primary[7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Nathaniel McLaughlin 138,941 100.00
Total votes 138,941 100.00

General election[edit]

2018 Kansas Insurance Commissioner election[4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Vicki Schmidt 644,293 62.89 Increase 1.38
Democratic Nathaniel McLaughlin 380,166 37.11 Decrease 1.38
Total votes 1,024,459 100.00
Republican hold

State Board of Education[edit]

State House of Representatives[edit]

Results of the Kansas House elections

The Kansas House of Representatives held elections for all 125 seats in 2018. Republicans maintained their supermajority in the chamber, with neither parties making any gains.

2018 Kansas House of Representatives elections
Party Before After Change
Republican 85 85 Steady
Democratic 40 40 Steady
Total 125 125

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Kansas Primary Election Results". Kansas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  2. ^ Lowry, Bryan; Shorman, Jonathan (December 6, 2017). "Independent Greg Orman reshuffles the race for Kansas governor". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
  3. ^ "Kelly is the state's oldest governor - again". The Active Age. December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e Kansas Secretary of State. 2018 General Election Official Vote Totals
  5. ^ a b c d e f Primary Election Official Results
  6. ^ "Kansas Primary Election Results". The New York Times. September 24, 2018.
  7. ^ "Kansas Insurance Commissioner election, 2018". Ballotpedia. Retrieved April 2, 2021.