Manhattan, Topeka and Lawrence Power Democratic Wave in Kansas
Riley, Shawnee and Douglas counties went Democratic up and down the ticket, flipped a Manhattan House seat and two county commission seats, and passed sales taxes in Manhattan and Lawrence
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Sign up freeTOPEKA, Kan. — Democrats carried Riley, Shawnee and Douglas counties by wide margins Tuesday in the races that reshaped Kansas politics, according to final unofficial counts from the three county election offices.
Democrat Adam Hamilton, who unseated Sen. Roger Marshall statewide as the first Kansas Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate since 1932, took 59% in Riley County, 57% in Shawnee County and 76% in Douglas County.
Democrat Cindy Holscher, who held a narrow statewide lead Wednesday morning in a governor's race too close to call, and Democrat Chris Mann, who declared victory over Attorney General Kris Kobach, ran at nearly identical levels in all three counties.
According to the Lawrence Journal-World, Douglas County counted 50,104 ballots, topping the midterm record of just over 49,000 set in 2018. About 1,700 provisional ballots were still to be reviewed.
The three counties also voted against the Republican congressmen who won their districts.
Shawnee County, the largest county in the 2nd District, gave Democrat Don Coover 35,165 votes, or 52%, to 29,713 for U.S. Rep. Derek Schmidt. Schmidt nonetheless won a second term district-wide, 51% to Coover's 45%, in a race The Associated Press called shortly before midnight.
In the 1st District, Riley County went 54% to 44% for Democrat Lauren Reinhold of Lawrence over U.S. Rep. Tracey Mann. The Lawrence portion of Douglas County gave Reinhold 79%, while Mann won a fourth term with 59% to 38% across the 60-county district.
In the Legislature, Democrat Brenda Bandy flipped Manhattan's open House District 67, defeating Republican Stacy Kohlmeier 4,943 to 4,429, a 514-vote margin, in a seat Rep. Angel Roeser, R-Manhattan, gave up after one term. Rep. Sydney Carlin, D-Manhattan, won House District 66 with 73%.
In Topeka, all five contested House incumbents held their seats, the closest being Rep. Jesse Borjon, R-Topeka, who beat Democrat Toni Scalia 6,125 to 5,776 in District 52 after trailing in the first advance-ballot returns. Lawrence's four House districts were uncontested, all held by Democrats.
Statewide, Democrats gained 20 House seats for a 68-57 Republican majority next session, ending the two-thirds supermajority Republicans had used to override vetoes.
Two county commission seats flipped to Democrats. In Riley County, Rob Voelker defeated two-term Commissioner John Ford 64% to 36% in District 1.
In Shawnee County, Lance Royer won the open District 1 seat vacated by Republican Bill Riphahn with 52% over Republican Jack Calcutt and a Libertarian.
Manhattan voters approved a 0.5% sales tax for street maintenance 53% to 47%. Lawrence voters raised the city's transit sales tax from 0.2% to 0.3% with 56% in favor.
Douglas County rejected the constitutional amendment limiting voting to U.S. citizens, voting no 64% to 36%, while the statewide yes vote was about 64%. Riley and Shawnee counties approved it.
A 0.5% Eudora sales tax stood at an exact tie, 1,150 to 1,150, with mail and provisional ballots outstanding. Results are unofficial until county canvasses, set for Nov. 12 in Riley County and Nov. 16 in Douglas County.
This article was written using our proprietary AI system, Cronkite. The final decision to publish this article was made by a human. For more info, read our AI policy.
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