Becker beats Gray, Lindsborg school bond passes
McPherson County voters rejected the Supreme Court election amendment 3,977-3,287, and voters statewide also defeated the proposal.
MCPHERSON, Kan. — Incumbent Keith Becker defeated challenger Stephen Gray in the Republican primary for the McPherson County Commission's 1st District on Tuesday, while voters in the Lindsborg-area Smoky Valley USD 400 approved a $21 million school bond. Becker received 1,246 votes, or 68.3%, to Gray's 579 votes, or 31.7%. The bond passed with 1,073 yes votes, or 60.4%, and 703 no votes, or 39.6%, according to unofficial election-night results.
The bond authorizes USD 400 to issue up to $21 million in general obligation bonds for construction, equipment, furnishings, repairs, remodeling and additions at district buildings and facilities. The proposal specifically includes construction of a new agricultural facility and related improvements.
McPherson County Republican voters also gave decisive margins to the area's two incumbent members of Congress. U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall received 4,066 votes, or 81.1%. In the 1st Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann received 4,092 votes, or 82.5%.
Preliminary results across Kansas showed Marshall winning the Republican U.S. Senate primary with 266,129 votes, or 79.9%. Across the full 1st Congressional District, Mann won the Republican primary with 73,739 votes, or 81%. Both incumbents ran slightly stronger in McPherson County than across their full constituencies.
Adam Hamilton led the 11-candidate Democratic U.S. Senate field in McPherson County with 447 votes, or 30.7%, and won the nomination statewide. He will face Marshall in the Nov. 3 general election.
On the statewide constitutional amendment, 3,977 McPherson County voters, or 54.7%, voted no, while 3,287, or 45.3%, voted yes. The proposal would have replaced the current process for selecting Kansas Supreme Court justices with direct elections, set elections for the seven justice positions between 2028 and 2032 and abolished the Supreme Court Nominating Commission. A no vote retained the system in which the commission submits three finalists to the governor, who appoints one, followed by periodic retention elections.
State Senate President Ty Masterson led the Republican gubernatorial primary in McPherson County with 2,183 votes, or 43.5%. Philip Sarnecki followed with 1,085 votes, or 21.6%; Scott Schwab received 626, or 12.5%; Vicki Schmidt received 591, or 11.8%; Nick Reinecker received 298, or 5.9%; Stacy Rogers received 138, or 2.8%; and Charlotte O'Hara received 95, or 1.9%.
The Democratic contest for governor was nearly tied in McPherson County. Ethan Corson received 683 votes, two more than Cindy Holscher's 681. Curt Skoog received 124 votes. That amounted to 45.9% for Corson, 45.8% for Holscher and 8.3% for Skoog.
Masterson also won statewide, receiving 146,051 votes, or 43.2%, nearly matching his 43.5% share in McPherson County. Sarnecki placed second statewide with 75,854 votes, or 22.4%. The Democratic result differed from McPherson County's two-vote Corson edge: Holscher won statewide with 107,077 votes, or 48.6%, followed by Corson with 85,567, or 38.8%, and Skoog with 27,807, or 12.6%. The Supreme Court amendment likewise failed statewide.
Masterson will face Holscher in the Nov. 3 general election.
The county report was generated at 10:29 p.m. Tuesday and listed 7,504 ballots cast — 5,201 Republican, 1,569 Democratic and 734 nonpartisan. Compared with the 19,524 registered voters listed for McPherson County in the Kansas secretary of state's June report, that represents an estimated turnout of 38.4%. County results remain unofficial until canvassed, and statewide totals were preliminary early Wednesday.
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