Kansas Advance Voting Outpaces Recent Midterms

Kansas, Wyandotte Resolve Chiefs Stadium Dispute

Spirit Defense Opens Wichita Plant for Uncrewed Fighters

Labor Secretary Tours Topeka Plant Amid Tariff Debate

Sunflower Scorecard: KU Wins, K-State Falls

Kansas Advance Voting Outpaces Recent Midterms

TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansans had cast 122,344 advance ballots by Oct. 22, including 98,189 in person and 24,155 returned from 99,048 mailed, according to secretary of state figures reported by WIBW. The office said voting exceeded the pace of the 2018 and 2022 midterms but trailed 2024, while an NBC News tally put participation at 155,868 by Oct. 25, about 8% of roughly 2.02 million registered voters and more than double the comparable 2022 total. Johnson County, the state’s most populous, reported 92,646 ballots by the weekend, with officials saying its initially presidential-year pace had slipped behind 2024 but remained well ahead of 2022. Every county must begin in-person advance voting by Oct. 27. An appeals court ruling this month preserved the three-day mail-ballot grace period, allowing ballots postmarked by Election Day to count if received by the last postal delivery Nov. 6. The increased participation comes ahead of a closely watched Senate race and an open governor’s race, but early ballot totals do not establish who is winning or determine outcomes before votes are counted after polls close Nov. 3.

WIBW · NBC News · KCTV5 · Kansas Secretary of State · Kansas Reflector/The Lawrence Times

Kansas, Wyandotte Resolve Chiefs Stadium Dispute

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Gov. Laura Kelly and Mayor Christal Watson announced Oct. 23 that the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City would dismiss its Chiefs stadium lawsuit without prejudice, allowing it to refile the claims later. The county government sued Oct. 9, arguing that the law establishing the Kansas Sports Facilities Authority stripped local control over taxes, zoning and utility service. The state authority will own the roughly $3 billion domed stadium and its parking and lease them to the Chiefs for $7 million annually, with construction financed partly through STAR bonds repaid from future district sales taxes. Local officials and the Board of Public Utilities retain planning, zoning and utility-payment authority over surrounding development, defining which decisions remain local as the host county and state proceed together. The utility will supply water, and the agreement provides a path for it and Evergy to partner on electric service. Officials said the county would not be asked to contribute additional revenue from outside the stadium, parking and surrounding development area.

KCUR · KSNT · FOX4 · KCTV5 · KSHB · Salina Post

Spirit Defense Opens Wichita Plant for Uncrewed Fighters

WICHITA, Kan. — Spirit Defense opened a 50,000-square-foot production facility Oct. 23 at Boeing’s campus near MacArthur Road and West Street, renovating a former tooling and factory support building. A design-build partnership with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems will produce FQ-42 Vengeance fuselages in Wichita for final assembly in San Diego; General Atomics describes the Air Force aircraft as semi-autonomous. Company leaders told KAKE they expected operations within 30 days and more than 100 jobs, expanding employment in Wichita’s dominant aerospace industry. The broader Air Force production plan covers 150 Vengeance and Fury aircraft by the end of the decade. Boeing bought Spirit AeroSystems for roughly $4.7 billion in December 2025 and now operates Spirit Defense as a subsidiary of its defense division, separate from its commercial airplane business. The project adds uncrewed military aircraft production at Wichita’s largest aerospace campus, known primarily for building Boeing commercial jet fuselages.

KAKE · KWCH · KSN · General Atomics · U.S. Air Force

Labor Secretary Tours Topeka Plant Amid Tariff Debate

TOPEKA, Kan. — U.S. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling visited structural-steel fabricator Haas Metal Engineering on Oct. 23 with Sen. Roger Marshall and Rep. Derek Schmidt, completing a three-stop Kansas tour. Sonderling praised national job growth and Kansas manufacturers and pledged workforce and education support for expanding employment. Company President Jon Haas said tariffs had little effect because the firm, which employs more than 780 people, buys mostly American steel, and he reported a multiyear order backlog. His account contrasted with that of a Meriden metal-fabrication executive who told Marshall at a mid-October Topeka forum that tariffs had delayed an expansion, illustrating differing business effects as trade policy figures in Marshall’s Senate race against Democrat Adam Hamilton. The same plant was scheduled to host Vice President JD Vance’s Oct. 26 campaign rally for Marshall, placing another administration appearance at the center of the Kansas campaign.

Kansas Reflector · WIBW · KWCH

Sunflower Scorecard: KU Wins, K-State Falls

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Kansas blocked a late field goal to beat Baylor 25-24 on Oct. 24 at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, earning its first Big 12 football win this season. The victory followed a 35-24 loss to Kansas State a week earlier. K-State lost 28-17 at Arizona State on Oct. 24 after allowing two fourth-quarter touchdowns. KU’s win capped its 114th homecoming, a major annual alumni gathering that opened Friday with the university’s first homecoming parade in seven years, revived through student government efforts. On Oct. 25, No. 17 Kansas men’s basketball lost 90-84 to No. 2 Duke at Allen Fieldhouse in the Blue Blood Classic, a preseason exhibition that does not count toward either team’s record.

ESPN · The Lawrence Times · KU Athletics · K-State Athletics · Duke Athletics

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Sources

1. WIBW / NBC News / KCTV5 / Kansas Secretary of State: Election Dates / Kansas Reflector/The Lawrence Times / Kansas Secretary of State: Advance Voting
2. KCUR / KSNT / FOX4 / KCTV5 / KSHB / Salina Post
3. KAKE / KWCH / KSN / General Atomics / U.S. Air Force
4. Kansas Reflector / WIBW / Kansas Reflector via Yahoo / KWCH
5. ESPN / The Lawrence Times / KU Athletics: Blue Blood Classic Preview / KU Athletics: Homecoming / K-State Athletics / Duke Athletics: Exhibition Result / Hack and Scratch Podcast

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