2014 Kansas elections

A general election was held in the U.S. state of Kansas on November 4, 2014. Primary elections were held on August 5.

Governor and Lieutenant Governor

Incumbent Republican Governor Sam Brownback and Lieutenant Governor Jeff Colyer successfully ran for re-election to a second term in office.[1] They defeated Jennifer Winn[2] and her running mate Robin Lais[3] in the Republican primary.

Democrat Paul Davis, Minority Leader of the Kansas House of Representatives,[4] ran unsuccessfully in the general election with running mate businesswoman Jill Docking. Keen Umbehr appeared on the ballot as the Libertarian Party candidate along with running mate Josh Umbehr, a Wichita-based physician.[5]

Attorney General

Incumbent Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt ran successfully for re-election to a second term in office. He was opposed by Democrat A.J. Kotich.[6]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Derek Schmidt (R)	A.J. Kotich (D)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	November 1–3, 2014	963	± 3.2%	59%	32%	9%
Public Policy Polling	October 9–12, 2014	1,081	± 3%	53%	27%	20%
Suffolk University	September 27–30, 2014	500	± 4.4%	45%	25%	30%
Public Policy Polling	September 11–14, 2014	1,328	± 2.7%	50%	27%	24%
Public Policy Polling	August 14–17, 2014	903	± 3.3%	49%	25%	26%

Results

General election results[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Derek Schmidt (incumbent)	564,766	66.7
	Democratic	A.J. Kotich	281,105	33.3
Total votes			845,871	100

Secretary of State

Incumbent Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach ran successfully for re-election to a second term in office.

Republican primary

Kobach was opposed in the primary by Scott Morgan.

Endorsements

Kris Kobach

Organizations

• Kansas Cattleman's Association[8]

Personalities

• Ted Nugent, rock musician[9]

Scott Morgan

Organizations

• Kansas Livestock Association [10]

Newspapers

• The Kansas City Star[11]
• The Wichita Eagle[12]
• Garden City Telegram[13]
• Ottawa Herald[14]
• The Hutchinson News[15]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Kris Kobach	Scott Morgan	Undecided
SurveyUSA	July 17–22, 2014	691	± 3.8%	56%	30%	13%
SurveyUSA	June 19–23, 2014	508	± 4.4%	61%	29%	10%

Results

Republican primary results[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kris Kobach (incumbent)	166,793	64.7
	Republican	Scott Morgan	90,680	35.2
Total votes			257,473	100

General election

Former Republican State Senator Jean Schodorf was the Democratic nominee for the general election.[6] She was defeated by Kobach.[17]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Kris Kobach (R)	Jean Schodorf (D)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	November 1–3, 2014	963	± 3.2%	49%	44%	7%
Survey USA	October 22–26, 2014	623	± 4%	45%	45%	11%
Gravis Marketing	October 20–21, 2014	1,124	± 3%	48%	40%	11%
Public Policy Polling	October 9–12, 2014	1,081	± 3%	47%	41%	12%
SurveyUSA	October 2–5, 2014	549	± 4.3%	48%	43%	9%
Gravis Marketing	September 30–October 1, 2014	850	± 3%	44%	44%	12%
Suffolk University	September 27–30, 2014	500	± 4.4%	45%	40%	15%
Fort Hays State University	September 10–27, 2014	685	± 3.8%	45%	40%	14%
Public Policy Polling	September 11–14, 2014	1,328	± 2.7%	43%	42%	15%
KSN/SurveyUSA	September 4–7, 2014	555	± 4.2%	43%	46%	11%
SurveyUSA	August 20–23, 2014	560	± 4.2%	46%	46%	8%
Public Policy Polling	August 14–17, 2014	903	± 3.3%	43%	38%	19%
SurveyUSA	July 17–22, 2014	1,208	± 2.9%	47%	41%	11%
SurveyUSA	June 19–23, 2014	1,068	± 3.1%	47%	41%	12%

Results by county

Results

General election results[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Kris Kobach (incumbent)	508,926	59.2
	Democratic	Jean Schodorf	350,692	40.8
Total votes			859,618	100

State Treasurer

Incumbent Republican State Treasurer Ron Estes was re-elected to a second term in office.[18] He defeated Democrat Carmen Alldritt.[6]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ron Estes (R)	Carmen Alldritt (D)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	November 1–3, 2014	963	± 3.2%	60%	32%	9%
Public Policy Polling	October 9–12, 2014	1,081	± 3%	50%	30%	20%
Public Policy Polling	September 11–14, 2014	1,328	± 2.7%	47%	28%	24%
Public Policy Polling	August 14–17, 2014	903	± 3.3%	49%	25%	26%

Results

General election results[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ron Estes (incumbent)	570,110	67.5
	Democratic	Carmen Alldritt	274,257	32.5
Total votes			844,367	100

Commissioner of Insurance

Incumbent Republican Commissioner of Insurance Sandy Praeger is not running for re-election to a fourth term in office. She has endorsed the Democratic nominee, Dennis Anderson, saying that he is more "dedicated to good public policy and [will] not use the office for political gain."[19] Anderson lost the election to Ken Selzer.[20]

Republican primary

Beverly Gossage, David J. Powell, Ken Selzer, Clark Shultz and John M. Toplikar ran for the Republican nomination.[6]

Results

Republican primary results[16]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ken Selzer	64,911	27.0
	Republican	Beverly Gossage	55,306	23.0
	Republican	Clark Shultz	54,565	22.7
	Republican	David Powell	40,388	16.8
	Republican	John Toplikar	24,773	10.3
Total votes			239,943	100

General election

Selzer defeated Democrat Dennis Anderson in the general election.[6]

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ken Selzer (R)	Dennis Anderson (D)	Undecided
Public Policy Polling	November 1–3, 2014	963	± 3.2%	51%	40%	9%
Gravis Marketing	October 20–21, 2014	1,124	± 3%	34%	21%	45%
Public Policy Polling	October 9–12, 2014	1,081	± 3%	48%	32%	20%
Gravis Marketing	September 30–October 1, 2014	850	± 3%	30%	21%	49%
Public Policy Polling	September 11–14, 2014	1,328	± 2.7%	43%	32%	25%
Public Policy Polling	August 14–17, 2014	903	± 3.3%	43%	29%	28%

Results

General election results[7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Ken Selzer	512,679	61.5
	Democratic	Dennis Anderson	320,862	38.5
Total votes			833,541	100

United States Senate

Republican Senator Pat Roberts ran for re-election to a fourth term. Greg Orman is running as an independent. Shawnee County District Attorney Chad Taylor won the Democratic primary, but withdrew his candidacy on September 3. After a court challenge, on September 18, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that his name would be taken off the ballot.[21] Roberts was re-elected with about 53% of the vote, compared to Orman's 43%.[22]

United States House of Representatives

Four U.S. Representatives from the state of Kansas were elected in 2014, one from each of the state's four congressional districts.

Kansas House of Representatives

Elections were held for all 125 seats in the Kansas House of Representatives.

References

1. "Brownback running for re-election". Lawrence Journal-World. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
2. "Wichita woman enters governor's race". KAKE. January 12, 2014. Archived from the original on 2014-03-25. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
3. Benchaabane, Nassim (June 2, 2014). "Wichita candidate for governor announces new running mate". The Wichita Eagle. Archived from the original on June 26, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
4. Carpenter, Tim (September 17, 2013). "Davis launches Democratic campaign for Kansas governor". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Archived from the original on September 17, 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2013.
5. Milburn, John (October 22, 2013). "Davis teams with Docking in Kansas governor's race". Kentucky.com. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
6. "Candidates for the 2014 Primary". Office of the Kansas Secretary of State. Archived from the original on 14 June 2006. Retrieved 26 July 2014. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
7. "2014 General Election Official Vote Totals" (PDF). Kansas Secretary of State. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-08. Retrieved 2014-08-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
9. "Ted Nugent endorses Kris Kobach's re-election bid". Archived from the original on 2014-08-08.
10. "Kansas Livestock Association backs Kobach challenger in primary".
11. "Reject extremism in Kansas' Aug. 5 primary".
12. "Endorsements: Governor, secretary of state, insurance commissioner". Archived from the original on 2014-07-28.
14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2014-08-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
15. "Secretary of State". Archived from the original on 2014-08-11. Retrieved 2014-08-06.
16. "2014 Primary Election Official Vote Totals" (PDF). Kansas Secretary of State. Retrieved 28 August 2014.
17. "Kobach re-elected as Kansas secretary of state". Lawrence Journal-World. Associated Press. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
18. Turkewitz, Julie (12 April 2017). "Who Is Ron Estes, Kansas' Newest Congressman?". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
19. "Praeger favors Democrat to succeed her as insurance commissioner". Kansas Health Institute. Sep 16, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
20. Ranney, Dave (4 November 2014). "Selzer elected insurance commissioner". Kansas Health Institute. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
21. Carpenter, Tim (September 18, 2014). "Court permits Taylor to withdraw from Senate race". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Archived from the original on October 15, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2014.
22. Helling, Dave (4 November 2014). "Sen. Pat Roberts survives, defeating challenge from Greg Orman". Kansas City Star. Retrieved 14 May 2017.