United Kansas
ChairpersonJack Curtis
Founded2024
IdeologyFusion voting
Political positionCenter
ColorsOrange
SloganOne Vision, One Kansas
Website
unitedkansas.com

United Kansas is a minor political party in the U.S. state of Kansas. United Kansas was founded in 2024 by Jack Curtis, who currently chairs the party.[1] Other party leadership includes Sally Cauble, a Republican who formerly served on the Kansas State Board of Education, and Aaron Estabrook, an independent who served on the Manhattan City Commission.[2] United Kansas advocates for fusion voting, nominating existing Republican or Democratic candidates.

History

On May 24, 2024, Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab declared that United Kansas had met the requirements to become officially recognized as a political party in Kansas.[3] They collected 35,152 signatures, greater than the requisite 2% of total votes in the previous gubernatorial election. United Kansas joined No Labels Kansas and the Libertarian Party as a minor political party in Kansas.[4]

In United Kansas's first year as an official party, they nominated three candidates for the Kansas House and Kansas Senate.[5] These included Lori Blake, a Democrat running for the 69th Kansas House district, J.C. Moore, a Republican running for the 26th Kansas Senate district, and Jason Probst, the incumbent representative for the 102nd Kansas House district.[6] Additionally, they nominated two candidates for the Leavenworth City Commission.[7]

Chairman Jack Curtis said that the party's organizers were interested in recreating fusion voting in Kansas, "an idea that would enable United Kansas to cross-nominate Republican or Democratic candidates".[8]

In April 2026, United Kansas merged with the Free State Party, an unofficial party pursuing ballot access.[9][10] The executive committee will have an equal number of members from the United Kansas and Free State parties.[10] Executive director Scott Morgan said the party will not require candidates to adhere to a strict platform but would expect candidates to share "broad principles," such as support for electoral reform (including ranked-choice voting), environmentalism, reasonable gun rights and regulations, and strong border immigration policies as well as a pathway to citizenship.[11] The party expressed intent to contest uncontested races in an effort to break the Republican supermajority in the 2026 midterm elections.[12][11]

The party nominated Scott Morgan, cofounder of the Free State Party, for the 2026 Kansas Secretary of State election.[13]

References

  1. ^ "New Kansas political party promises new era of politics". KSN-TV. 2024-03-12. Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  2. ^ Cassell, Victoria (2024-03-13). "New Kansas political party introduces fresh era of collaborative politics". Retrieved 2024-04-19.
  3. ^ "United Kansas officially recognized as political party in Kansas". KOAM News Now. 2024-05-24. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
  4. ^ "'United Kansas' named state's 5th political party". KSNT 27 News. 2024-05-24. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
  5. ^ "Kansas Secretary of State | Elections | Candidate Lists". sos.ks.gov. Retrieved 2024-06-01.
  6. ^ Kansas, United. "United Kansas". United Kansas. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
  7. ^ Shorman, Jonathan (June 7, 2024). "New Kansas political party wants to change how you vote. Can they get around the ban?". The Kansas City Star.
  8. ^ Carpenter, Tim. "United Kansas officially earns spot on Kansas ballots as state's fifth political party • Kansas Reflector". Kansas Reflector. Retrieved 2024-06-06.
  9. ^ "Free State Party - A New Moderate Political Party in Kansas | Join the Moderate Movement". Free State Party - A New Moderate Political Party in Kansas. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
  10. ^ a b "United Kansas Free State Merger". United Kansas The Free State Party. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
  11. ^ a b "Seeking to take on both Republicans and Democrats, pair of smaller Kansas political parties merge". LJWorld.com. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
  12. ^ "Action Plan — United Kansas The Free State Party". United Kansas The Free State Party. Archived from the original on 2026-04-22. Retrieved 2026-04-22.
  13. ^ Carpenter, Tim (20 May 2026). "United Kansas Party nominates Lawrence's Scott Morgan in secretary of state's race".