Democrats surged to victories across the nation Tuesday, taking control of the House of Representatives and Senate and winning the majority of gubernatorial races.
Kansas was no exception, as voters elected Democrat Adam Hamilton to the Senate, while Democratic gubernatorial candidate Cindy Holscher and Democratic attorney general candidate Chris Mann both declared victory Wednesday.
Hamilton takes Senate seat in historic upset
For the first time since 1932, Kansas will send a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in January. Democrat Adam Hamilton defeated Republican incumbent Roger Marshall 51% to 46%, according to the AP, flipping the seat from red to blue for the first time in 94 years. Hamilton serves as senior pastor of the megachurch United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas, the largest United Methodist congregation in the country.
Leading up to the election, the polls showed Hamilton with a slight edge over Marshall, although that number was within the margin of error. Fox News shifted the race from Lean R to toss-up on Nov. 1, and the polls proved to be accurate for the race.
Every single county in Kansas shifted towards the Democrats compared to 2024, and Hamilton won the key bellwether county of Sedgwick, which includes Wichita, by 14,000 votes, helping secure his victory.
Hamilton will assume office on Jan. 3, 2027, and Vice President JD Vance will inaugurate him to serve in the 120th United States Congress.
House incumbents take wins across the board
Kansas’ representatives in the House will look the same for the next two years as all four Kansas incumbents won reelection Tuesday night. Democratic incumbent Rep. Sharice Davids of District 3 was the first winner the AP declared, with Republican incumbents Tracey Mann of District 1, Ron Estes of District 4 and Derek Schmidt of District 2 following as the night progressed.
Holscher declares victory while race too close to call
Democratic candidate for Kansas governor Cindy Holscher declared victory Wednesday, despite NBC maintaining its “too close to call” designation, with Holscher leading Republican Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson 50.3% to 49.7% as of 10 p.m. on Nov. 4.
In the weeks leading up to Election Day, MS NOW’s polling average had Masterson up by as much as +5, but Nov. 1 saw Holscher even with her Republican opponent, a draw that remained until Tuesday’s election began.
In a social media post declaring victory Wednesday, Holscher wrote that she is “deeply honored by the trust Kansans placed” in her and that she looks forward to working with Governor Laura Kelly on a smooth transition of power.
Scott Schwab, Kansas secretary of state, announced in a press release Wednesday that a close-race audit has begun for the gubernatorial race, as results came in within 1%. According to the Kansas secretary of state website, “The close-race audit is performed by the county(ies) and shall review all ballots selected to ensure the hand vote count is identical to the vote count from the tabulators.”
If Holscher is officially the victor, she will follow Democrat Laura Kelly, who ends her second four-year term in January. It would mark the first time since 1974 a party has won three gubernatorial elections in a row in Kansas.
Mann leading Kobach in attorney general rematch
After losing to Republican Kris Kobach by 1.6% in 2022, Democrat Chris Mann declared victory over Kobach Wednesday, with NBC still labeling the race “too early to call” as of 10 p.m. on Nov. 4.
Mann currently leads Kobach 50.6% to 49.4%, according to NBC. As with the gubernatorial race, Schwab announced in a press release Wednesday that a close-race audit has begun for the attorney general race.
Proctor leads Day in tight Secretary of State race
In a close Secretary of State race, Republican Pat Proctor holds a narrow 48.3% to 47.4% lead with 98.8% of the vote as of 10 p.m. on Nov. 4. The AP has yet to officially call the race, still maintaining the “too close to call” label, but Proctor posted on his campaign’s Instagram page that “it appears I have won my race to serve as your next Secretary of State.”
Proctor is currently serving in the Kansas House of Representatives, representing the 41st district. He is also a retired United States Army colonel. Day is a former member of the Kansas House of Representatives as well and represented the 48th district from 2020-2021 before resigning due to a move out of her district.
With the race so tight, Schwab initiated a close-race audit for the race, the third statewide race to be audited. In addition to the routine post-election audit, this measure involves reviewing ballots in 10% of precincts in each county. With no official winner announced as of 10:00 p.m. on Nov. 4, and with the close-race audit to come in the near future, it is unclear when an announcement of the race’s official results will be.
Student leaders react to results
Tuesday’s results drew mixed reactions from student political leaders on each side of the night’s races.
Noah Perry, junior in business pre-law, president of K-State College Republicans and former candidate for Kansas State House of Representatives District 66, said he expected a “blue wave,” but the extent to which Democrats won was shocking.
“I thought at least some of the swing states would stay red, but then they [Democrats] got Texas, and then they got to Kansas, and after that point, I was like, wow, this is much bigger than I expected it was going to be,” Perry said.
High gas prices due to the war in Iran were the main issue that cost Republicans many of their races, Perry said. He also said Republicans focused too much on their opponents, rather than telling voters what they had to offer.
“We were saying, this is why you shouldn’t vote for my opponent, and I think it’s a poor leadership strategy there,” Perry said. “I think if we would have focused more on describing our own platforms across the board, we wouldn’t have seen a victory, but we would have seen a much better result.”
On the other side, Lacy Miller, senior in political science and president of K-State Young Democrats, said that she was ecstatic by the results and proud of the decision made by Kansas voters.
“Seeing the results of the battleground races across the country was genuinely shocking and heartwarming,” Miller said. “It was a moment that made me incredibly proud to be here for school and to see such a historic moment happen in the state that has become my home during college.”
As for what the results mean for K-State students, Lacy Miller, senior in political science and president of K-State Young Democrats, said that they can help students’ overall view of the country and they should always remember to make their voice heard.
“I hope they have a positive impact on students’ mentality and outlook, regardless of whether students voted Democrat, Republican or otherwise,” Miller said. “I hope these results remind them that there is always room for improvement and always an opportunity to create change. We have so much power in our votes, and I hope students never forget just how much that power matters.”
