Election Season in Full Swing
The dust has settled following the June 1st candidate filing deadline. With the field set, the election season is officially underway as the August 4th primary election is just around the corner. This year we are set to see elections for a U.S. Senate seat, all 4 congressional seats, all statewide offices, 2 state senate seats and all 125 house seats. A complete listing of all candidates in the primary election can be found here.
The race to replace Governor Laura Kelly (D), who is term limited, has attracted a crowded field. There are 7 candidates in the Republican primary and 3 candidates in the Democratic primary.
There are only two Kansas Senate seats which will hold special elections this year. In District 24, Senator Scott Hill (R-Abilene), who replaced J.R. Claeys in 2025, is running unopposed in both the primary and general elections. In District 25, Senator Silas Miller (D-Wichita), who replaced Mary Ware in 2025, will see opposition in the general election only.
All 125 Kansas House seats are up for election. Republicans currently hold 88 seats while Democrats hold 37 seats. Following the filing deadline, there were 260 candidates filed for House seats, including 136 Republicans and 124 Democrats. However, that could change somewhat, as the Secretary of State’s office has been announcing the invalidation of a handful of filings. There were 14 incumbent legislators that did not file for reelection. The House of Representatives is already guaranteed to have an 11% turnover rate. That rate will increase as some incumbents will likely be defeated in the primary and general elections. Historically, the elections yield a 20-25% turnover rate.
There are 25 Republican primaries and 18 Democrat primaries. Of these primaries, 8 races (5 Republican and 3 Democratic) are primary-only, meaning we’ll know those legislators after the August 4th election date. Further, there are 33 seats (18 Republicans and 15 Democrats) with no opposition in either the primary or general election.
What does this mean for KMS? In addition to welcoming many new members in the House, we will be experiencing turnover in the governor’s office, potentially in Senate leadership and most definitely in House leadership. Advocacy is our organization’s number one priority. It will be critical for us to engage with new and incumbent candidates throughout the election season to develop and grow our relationships with lawmakers. With change comes opportunity to make new connections and educate candidates on the issues impacting the house of medicine.
Critical to our efforts is making strategic campaign contributions to candidates who have a record supporting KMS in the statehouse or who demonstrate a willingness to work with KMS on issues important to physicians. To that end, I urge you to consider making a contribution to our political action committee KaMPAC to help bolster these efforts. Every dollar contributed to KaMPAC is used exclusively to support candidates for the Kansas House and Senate.
It is always a privilege to represent you and advocate on your behalf in the Kansas Statehouse. If you have questions about legislative or election matters, please reach out.
Sincerely,
