Tuesday night brought an end to the strong independent challenge to U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, the incumbent Republican. The race was deemed significant by national observers as Republicans took control of the U.S. Senate.
While the vote count started very close for the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts, a Republican, pulled away and was declared the winner by several news sources.
Roberts was ahead by 8 percentage points by around 10:15 p.m., with not all of the votes counted yet. Orman conceded and congratulated Sen. Roberts on his victory, while Roberts praised Orman’s campaign, and thanked his supporters.
Wyandotte County voters went 64 percent for Orman and 32 percent for Roberts.
But voter turnout was down in Wyandotte County compared to past midterm elections. Only 28,597 votes were cast in Wyandotte County, a 34.7 percent turnout of the 82,319 registered voters. Previous midterm elections were in the 40 percent range.
Kelly Kultala, of Kansas City, Kan., who challenged U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder, R-3rd Dist., was behind 61 percent to 39 percent in the district at 10:15 p.m. She carried the Wyandotte County portion with 63 percent of the vote here. The final unofficial vote was 60 percent for Yoder and 40 percent for Kultala district-wide, and 60 percent for Kultala and 40 percent for Yoder in Wyandotte County.
Gov. Sam Brownback was leading 49 percent to Paul Davis’ 47 percent of the vote at 10:15 p.m., with more than 900 precincts still out statewide. By shortly after 11 p.m., Davis conceded the victory to Brownback. By 11:40 p.m., Brownback was leading 50 percent to 46 percent, with 356 precincts still out.
In Wyandotte County, Davis won with 66 percent of the vote to Brownback’s 31 percent.
Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Republican, had a large lead over challenger Jean Kurtis Schodorf, a Democrat, at 10:15 p.m. Kobach had a 6 percentage point lead. The lead extended to 8 percent by 11:40 p.m.
In Wyandotte County, Kobach’s home county, Schodorf won with 60 percent of the vote to Kobach’s 41 percent.
In the state legislative contests, incumbent Rep. Tom Burroughs, D-33rd Dist., the assistant House minority leader, beat back a strong challenge from Sue Adams of Edwardsville. Burroughs had 51 percent of the vote to Adams’ 49 percent, an edge of only 148 votes. Burroughs’ district boundaries had changed quite a lot during redistricting.
Rep. Kathy Wolfe Moore, D-36th Dist., won by a 62 percent to 34 percent margin over Republican challenger Earl Freeman.
In a close contest, Kansas Board of Education, 1st District, incumbent Janet Waugh, a Democrat from Kansas City, Kan., was leading with 54 percent of the vote over Republican challenger Nancy Klemp of Leavenworth. Eighty of the 196 precincts were reporting. The final unofficial vote was 53 percent for Waugh and 47 percent for Klemp.
In the Wyandotte County portion of the 1st District, Waugh received 67 percent of the vote.
A constitutional amendment to allow raffles for charitable organizations was passing with 75 percent of the vote. The state would regulate these raffles.