Kansas lawmakers propose electoral college to elect governor

TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas House lawmakers introduced a constitutional amendment Tuesday that would create an unprecedented state-level electoral college system for electing the governor, a proposal supporters say would balance urban and rural representation but critics argue could allow candidates to win without the most votes statewide.

House Concurrent Resolution 5027, introduced by the House Elections Committee chaired by Rep. Pat Proctor, R-Leavenworth, would allocate one elector to each of the state's 40 senate districts, with the candidate pair receiving votes from at least 21 districts winning the governorship. If no ticket secures a majority, the Republican-controlled Legislature would decide the outcome in a joint session. The amendment's ballot language explicitly states it would "ensure a balanced representation of urban and rural areas."

The proposal emerges as Kansas's population increasingly concentrates in its eastern urban counties. Johnson County alone holds more than 630,000 residents — roughly eight times the population of an average senate district — while rural western Kansas contains numerous districts with far fewer voters but equal electoral weight under the proposed system. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who is term-limited and serving her final year, won statewide in 2018 and 2022 under the current popular vote system despite Republicans holding supermajorities in both legislative chambers.

If approved by two-thirds of both chambers, the amendment would appear on the November 2028 ballot for voter approval. No U.S. state currently uses an electoral college to select its governor, according to historical records from the National Archives, though some states allowed legislatures to choose governors in the early republic.

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