STATE

Schmidt, Kelly win gubernatorial primaries. Results are coming in for AG, school board and more

Jason Alatidd
Topeka Capital-Journal
Privacy boxes are placed for Jackson County voters to cast their ballot during advance voting Thursday at the Jacksoun County Courthouse.

Polls have now closed across Kansas after Republican and Democratic voters took to the voting booths today to decide their nominees for the November general election.

Unofficial early results are slowly being reported by the Secretary of State's Office.

While much of the political messaging has focused on the anti abortion amendment, Republicans and Democrats have several contested primary contests. The GOP in particular has intriguing matchups in statewide races for attorney general, secretary of state and treasurer.

More:Kansas voters decide future of post-Roe abortion rights with election results hours away

Some races will essentially be decided in today's vote. Often, primaries are the only meaningful election in state legislative races in some heavily Republican rural areas or Democrat-dominated urban areas.

For instance, about a third of the Kansas State Board of Education's membership will be decided in the GOP primary.

Election officials are predicting record turnout for the primary. The Secretary of State's Office forecasts 36% of registered voters statewide will fill out a ballot, above the 34.2% in the 2020 primary and 27.1% in the 2018 primary.

Shawnee County officials predict 38% to 40% turnout, which would also be higher than past primaries.

More:Kansas officials expect record turnout as abortion amendment campaign nears finish line

Voters take to Topeka polling sites

Some voters at the polling place at Hayden High School, 401 S.W. Gage Blvd., had some trouble navigating road construction. Street work was being done Tuesday on nearby Gage Boulevard, reducing it to one lane in each direction while creating an atmosphere that some motorists found confusing.

Those included Penny Shoulders, who said she had just moved to the area involved.

Before arriving at Hayden, Shoulders said she ended up taking a circuitous route that included driving through nearby Memorial Park Cemetery at 3616 S.W. 6th Ave., and taking Interstate 70 west to S.W. Fairlawn Road before coming back east to Gage. When Shoulders finally got to Hayden, she said she didn't know where to enter until she saw others using the voting entrance, which was on the east side of the school and south of its main entrance.

If Shoulders hadn't seen others using that entrance, "I would have just been walking around wondering," she said.

But that wasn't the case for Anthony Neal and Brittany Nesbitt, who said they live near Hayden and walked to the school to vote Tuesday.

The experience was "a lot better" than what they've gone through to vote in California or Ohio, places they've lived in the past, Neal said. In other states, he said, they've dealt with two-hour waits and "a line going out the door." At Hayden, Neal said, they got in and out pretty quickly.

The Hayden polling place on Tuesday morning had been busier than on past election days, said Camille Nohe, the supervising judge there.

"We normally just have a bunch of people show up early in the morning on the way to work, but it's been a steady stream since we opened," she said at 9:30 a.m. 

Nohe, who is director of the League of Women Voters of Topeka-Shawnee County, said she is in her "fourth or fifth" year of being an Election Day supervising judge. She was happy about the turnout.

"There's more people voting!" Nohe said. "Yay!"

While the election judges at Hayden had needed to do "some reconnaissance" in advance to make sure they knew what to do to get to Tuesday's assignment, Nohe said it was her perception that most people coming to Hayden to vote weren't having trouble getting there because they lived in the area.

Dawn Harper said she found her voting experience Tuesday morning to be "really quick and very nice" at the Kansas Expocentre's Exhibition Hall. 

Tuesday marked the first time she had voted in Shawnee County for Harper, who previously lived in Douglas County.

"Everyone was very polite," she said.

Melanie Lawrence, supervising judge at Exhibition Hall, said that polling place saw a rush of voters not long after it opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday, but things had slowed down by mid-morning.

At the Fairlawn Plaza polling place, a steady stream of voters moved through the line with little, if any wait.

“We’ve been busy all morning,” said Tom Skullken, who was the supervising judge for the site.

The site’s tabulating machine stopped working about 10:15 a.m., and on-site poll workers were unable to restart it.

They started redirecting newly filled ballots to an emergency bin in the tabulating machine, while a technician from the county election office arrived to troubleshoot the machine. The redirected ballots were to be fed through the machine once it was brought back online.

Similar issues occurred shortly before 7 a.m. at Susana Wesley Methodist Church in west Topeka. Voters were asked to wait for the issues to be rectified, with the machines ultimately swapped out for functional ones after a brief delay.

That polling place, one of the busiest in Topeka, continued to see a steady stream of voters throughout the day.

More:Here's what you need to know about candidates for Congress and statewide office in Kansas

Directional signs lead Shawnee County residents into Heritage Hall to cast their ballot for the primary elections Tuesday morning.

Kansas Governor Primary Election Results

The Associated Press has called both primary races for heavy favorites incumbent Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and Republican challenger, Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

Their token opponents didn't raise substantial funds or mount serious political campaigns.

Kansas Attorney General Primary Election Results

The Republican primary in the attorney general race has been the most hotly contested race of the summer.

Kris Kobach was always the frontrunner in the race, buoyed by substantial name recognition from his time as secretary of state and national persona of an immigration hardliner. A win for Kobach could reinvigorate his political career after coming up short in campaigns for governor in 2018 and U.S. Senate in 2020.

State Sen. Kellie Warren won the support of much of the party establishment and wealthy lobbyists, pouring money into a campaign largely predicated on attacking Kobach's electability. Warren would retain her seat in the Legislature if she loses.

Political newcomer Tony Mattivi is the only candidate with prosecutorial experience in the race, but has struggled to win over voters and donors in the three-way primary.

Whoever wins will face the only Democrat, former prosecutor and police officer Chris Mann, in the general election.

More:Kris Kobach tries to emerge from the pack as race for Kansas attorney general takes shape

Kansas Secretary of State Primary Election Results

Republican incumbent Scott Schwab is the top election official in the state. He maintains that Kansas elections are safe and secure in the wake of voter concerns and conspiracy theories following the 2020.

That insistence fueled the campaign of Mike Brown, a former Johnson County commissioner, who has questioned Schwab's work. The incumbent enjoys broad party support; a victory for Brown would be an electoral upset.

The only Democrat in the race is Jeanna Repass, who is seeking to be the first woman of color to hold statewide office in Kansas.

More:Audits, voting machines and TikToks: Mistrust sparks GOP race to be Kansas' top election official

Kansas Treasurer Primary Election Results

Incumbent Treasurer Lynn Rogers is asking voters to let him stay in the office he was appointed to. Rogers, a Democrat, was Kelly's running mate in 2018, serving as lieutenant governor until he was appointed state treasurer when Republican Jake LaTurner left for Congress.

Vying to challenge Rogers are state legislators Rep. Steven Johnson and Sen. Caryn Tyson. The two Republicans have a decade of lawmaking experience and oversaw tax policy. Johnson is regarded as one of few politicians with a deep understanding of KPERS, the civil servant pension program.

More:In GOP primary for Kansas treasurer, Caryn Tyson and Steven Johnson tout legislative experience

Insurance Commissioner Primary Election Results

Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt is running for reelection to the office she first won in 2018. The Republican is a former pharmacist and state senator.

She doesn't have a primary challenger, and neither does the lone Democrat in the race, IRS technician Kiel Corkran.

U.S. Congress Primary Election Results

U.S. Senate

A multitude of Democrats are vying for the chance at being a longshot to unseat Sen. Jerry Moran. Former Kansas City mayor Mark Holland has garnered the most attention in a field of candidates that also includes Mike Andra, Paul Buskirk, Robert Klingenberg, Michael Soetaert and Patrick Wiesner.

The Associated Press called the Republican primary for Moran quickly. He had a nominal primary challenge from Joan Farr.

More:Jerry Moran has Democratic opponents for 2022. He also has $4M+ and a Trump endorsement on his side.

1st Congressional District

Freshman Rep. Tracey Mann, a Republican, and Jimmy Beard, a Democrat, are unopposed in their primaries. The Big First is a GOP stronghold stretching from the Colorado border to northeast Kansas, now including Lawrence after redistricting.

2nd Congressional District

Freshman Rep. Jake LaTurner won the seat two years ago after besting incumbent Steve Watkins in the GOP primary. LaTurner doesn't have to worry about suffering a similar fate — no other Republicans are running this year.

Patrick Schmidt is the only Democrat in the race.

The district includes Topeka and much of eastern Kansas.

More:Despite uphill battle, Democrat launches challenge to U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner in 2022

3rd Congressional District

Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids, who has drawn national attention to the Kansas City area seat, does not have a primary opponent. Republican Amanda Adkins is seeking a rematch of the 2020 race sans half of Wyandotte County, but first she has to beat John McCaughrean in the primary.

4th Congressional District

Republican incumbent Rep. Ron Estes and Democratic challenger Bob Hernandez are unopposed in their respective primaries to represent the Wichita area in Washignton, D.C.

Kansas Legislature Primary Election Results

All 125 seats in the Kansas House are up for election. One of the 40 Senate seats has an election to fill the remainder of a term.

In Topeka, 16 candidates are vying for eight seats, five of which are held by incumbents running unopposed.

More:Topeka has 16 candidates running for Kansas Legislature. Here's your guide to Aug. 2 election.

More:District 53 is only Topeka legislative race with contested primaries for Republicans and Democrats

More:Topeka House District 55 will have new representative for first time since 1997

Kansas State Board of Education Primary Election Results

Half of the 10 seats on the Kansas State Board of Education are up for election. Two seats have uncontested primaries setting up the general election. Three seats have Republican incumbents facing GOP challengers pushing for a more conservative public school system.

More:Kansas State Board of Education will see three primary races, all between Republicans

District 1

Democrat Jeffrey Howards and Republican Danny Zeck are running unopposed in their primaries for vice chair Janet Waugh's seat. The covers northeast Kansas and includes part of Topeka.

District 3

Incumbent Republican Michelle Dombrosky and Democrat Sheila Albers are slated to face off in the general election after running unopposed in the primary. The district covers much of the Kansas City suburbs.

District 5

Incumbent Republican Jean Clifford faces a primary challenge from Cathy Hopkins. No Democrats are running in the western and north-central Kansas district.

District 7

Incumbent Republican Ben Jones is being challenged by Dennis Hershberger. No Democrat is running in the central Kansas district, which includes portions of the Wichita metro.

District 9

Board chair and incumbent Republican Jim Porter faces a primary challenge from Luke Aichele. The district is primarily comprised of southeast Kansas. No Democrats are running.

Jason Tidd is a statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jtidd@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jason_Tidd.

Tim Hrenchir, Rafael Garcia and Andrew Bahl of The Capital-Journal contributed reporting.