2018 Kansas elections

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 had 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. Kelly became the oldest governor in Kansas history, taking office at the age of 68.^[3]

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.

General election

Predictions

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.

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.

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.

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.

References

1. ^ "Kansas Primary Election Results". Kansas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
2. ^ Lowry, Bryan & Shorman, Jonathan (December 6, 2017). "Independent Greg Orman reshuffles the race for Kansas governor". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved December 10, 2017.
3. ^ "Kelly is the state's oldest governor - again". The Active Age. December 1, 2022. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
4. ^ Jacobson, Louis (October 11, 2018). "Democrats Maintain the Edge in Secretary of State Races". Retrieved October 20, 2025.