2018 Kansas elections

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Elections in Kansas
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Kansas City Mayoral elections 2013 2017 2021
Overland Park Mayoral elections 1997 2001 2005 2009 2013 2017 2021
Wichita Mayoral elections 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023
v t e

A general election was held in the state of Kansas on November 6, 2018. Primary elections were held on August 7, 2018.

Voters elected all six executive officers, the lower house of the state legislature, and all of the state's delegations to the U.S. House.

U.S. House of Representatives

Kansas elected four U.S. representatives, one for each congressional districts. In 2018, the delegation's Republican majority changed from 4–0 to 3–1, the first time Democrats have held a seat in the state since 2010.

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

Incumbent Republicans Jeff Colyer and Tracey Mann lost their party's renomination in a tight primary election won by Secretary of State Kris Kobach and businessman Wink Hartman by a margin of around 0.1 percent.^[1] Democrats nominated state senators Laura Kelly and Lynn Rogers, with businessman Greg Orman and state senator John Doll joining the race as independents.^[2] Polls leading up to the election had Kobach and Kelly running close, leading to many news outlets predicting a tossup election.

Kelly won the election, beating Kobach by five percentage points. Kelley became the oldest governor in Kansas history, taking office at the age of 68.^[3]

2018 Kansas gubernatorial election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Laura Kelly / Lynn Rogers	506,727	48.01	1.88
	Republican	Kris Kobach / Wink Hartman	453,645	42.98	6.84
	Independent	Greg Orman / John Doll	68,590	6.50
	Libertarian	Jeff Caldwell / Mary Gerlt	20,020	1.90	2.15
	Independent	Rick Kloos / Nathaniel Kloos	6,584	0.62
Total votes			1,055,566	100.00
	Democratic gain from Republican

Secretary of state

Incumbent Republican secretary of state Kris Kobach retired to run for governor, leaving the seat open. State representative Scott Schwab won the Republican primary amidst a number of candidates, while Democratic nominee Brian McClendon ran unopposed after his challengers withdrew. Schwab won the election.

Republican primary

Democratic primary

General election

2018 Kansas Secretary of State election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Scott Schwab	549,416	52.60	6.57
	Democratic	Brian McClendon	458,142	43.87	3.04
	Libertarian	Rob Hodgkinson	36,882	3.53
Total votes			1,044,440	100.00
	Republican hold

Attorney general

Incumbent Republican attorney general Derek Schmidt ran for re-election to a third term. He successfully defeated Democratic nominee Sarah Swain by 18 points.

Republican primary

Democratic primary

General election

2018 Kansas Attorney General election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Derek Schmidt (incumbent)	614,436	58.98	7.79
	Democratic	Sarah Swain	427,289	41.02	7.79
Total votes			1,041,725	100.00
	Republican hold

Treasurer

Incumbent Republican treasurer Jake LaTurner was appointed to the office on April 25, 2017, following the resignation of his predecessor Ron Estes to join the U.S. House of Representatives. He ran for election to a full term, defeating his Democratic challenger State Senator Marci Francisco by 15.49 points.

Republican primary

Democratic primary

General election

2018 Kansas State Treasurer election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Jake LaTurner (incumbent)	598,392	57.75	9.78
	Democratic	Marci Francisco	437,879	42.26	9.78
Total votes			1,036,271	100.00
	Republican hold

Insurance Commissioner

Incumbent Republican Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer retired to run for governor, leaving the seat open. Republican state senators Vicki Schmidt and Clark Shultz competed in a close primary, with Schmidt winning the nomination. The Democratic nominee was president of the Kansas NAACP Nathaniel McLaughlin. Schmidt won the election with the highest vote percentage of any statewide candidate.

Republican primary

Democratic primary

General election

2018 Kansas Insurance Commissioner election^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Vicki Schmidt	644,293	62.89	1.38
	Democratic	Nathaniel McLaughlin	380,166	37.11	1.38
Total votes			1,024,459	100.00
	Republican hold

State Board of Education

State House of Representatives

The Kansas House of Representatives held elections for all 125 seats in 2018. Republicans maintained their supermajority in the chamber, with neither parties making any gains.

2018 Kansas House of Representatives elections

Party		Before	After	Change
	Republican	85	85
	Democratic	40	40
Total		125	125