Kansas State Senate elections, 2016

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2016 Kansas
Senate Elections
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PrimaryAugust 2, 2016
GeneralNovember 8, 2016
2016 Election Results
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2016 Elections
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All 40 seats in the Kansas State Senate were up for election in 2016. Democrats gained one seat in the November 2016 general election.

HIGHLIGHTS
  • Democrats were guaranteed election in four seats barring unforeseen circumstances.
  • In the eight open Republican seats, all eight had general election competition.
  • If Democrats were to make any gains, it would have been in the 36 districts that had general election competition between two major party candidates; only 10 seats were competitive or mildly competitive in 2012.[1]
  • Six conservative Republican incumbents were defeated in the primary by more moderate Republicans.
  • Introductions[edit]

    Elections for the Kansas State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election was held on August 2, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2016.

    Majority control[edit]

    See also: Partisan composition of state senates

    Heading into the election, the Republican Party held the majority in the Kansas State Senate:

    Kansas State Senate
    Party As of November 7, 2016 After November 8, 2016
         Democratic Party 8 9
         Republican Party 32 31
    Total 40 40

    Incumbents retiring[edit]

    Eight incumbents did not run for re-election in 2016. Those incumbents were:

    Name Party Current Office
    Kay Wolf Ends.png Republican Senate District 7
    Jeff King Ends.png Republican Senate District 15
    Michael O'Donnell Ends.png Republican Senate District 25
    Leslie Donovan Ends.png Republican Senate District 27
    Steve Abrams Ends.png Republican Senate District 32
    Mitch Holmes Ends.png Republican Senate District 33
    Garrett Love Ends.png Republican Senate District 38
    Ralph Ostmeyer Ends.png Republican Senate District 40

    2016 election competitiveness[edit]

    Kansas saw improvement in electoral competitiveness.

    Ballotpedia conducts a yearly study of electoral competitiveness in state legislative elections. Details on how well Kansas performed in the study are provided in the image below. Click here for the full 2016 Competitiveness Analysis »

    CA 2016 Kansas.png
    • In the Kansas State Senate, there were eight Democratic incumbents and 32 Republican incumbents. No incumbents faced primary opposition in the Democratic Party. There were 11 primary challenges in the Republican primary.
    • In the House, there were 28 Democratic incumbents and 97 Republican incumbents. Twenty-four state representatives faced primary opposition in the Democratic Party. There were 28 primary challenges in the Republican primary.
    • Overall, 18.6 percent of Democratic incumbents and 21.4 percent of GOP incumbents faced primary opposition in all of the state legislatures with elections in 2016.
    • The cumulative figure for how many state legislative candidates faced no major party opposition in November in these states was 41.8 percent. This compares to 32.7 percent in 2010, 38.3 percent in 2012, and 43.0 percent in 2014.


    • More details on electoral competitiveness in Kansas can be found below.

    Primary election[edit]

    In the primary elections held on August 2, 2016, six incumbents were defeated in the state Senate, while nine incumbents were defeated in the state House. Outside of the one incumbent Democrat who was defeated in the House, the other 14 incumbents who were ousted were conservative Republicans displaced by moderate Republicans running against the conservative policies of Gov. Sam Brownback (R). Before the 2016 primary, moderate Republicans had been losing ground in the state legislature, shifting from a more moderate Republican-controlled state legislature to a more conservative one after the 2012 elections. In 2012, 18 Republican incumbents were unseated.

    Before the primary, there were 25 conservative incumbents in the Senate that would follow the governor's agenda. Following the primary results, the number dropped to 18 conservative members. The House saw a similar number of conservative seats change to moderate.[2]

    Senate incumbents defeated[edit]

    Senate leadership changes[edit]

    In the past two election cycles, members of the Republican leadership had been defeated in Senate primary races. In 2016, Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce (R) was defeated, while Senate President Stephen Morris (R) was defeated in 2012.

    Heading into the general election, Kansas was one of 23 Republican trifecta states. Read more about party control in Kansas »

    List of candidates[edit]

    General election[edit]

    2016 Kansas Senate general election candidates
    District Democratic Party Democrat Republican Party Republican Other
    1 Jerry Henry: 13,076 Dennis Pyle: 18,283 (I) Approveda
    2 Marci Francisco: 24,147 (I) Approveda Meredith Richey: 12,378
    3 Tom Holland: 17,214 (I) Approveda Echo Van Meteren: 16,189
    4 David Haley (I) Approveda No candidate
    5 Bill Hutton: 12,828 Steve Fitzgerald: 13,336 (I) Approveda
    6 Pat Pettey: 12,640 (I) Approveda No candidate Jason Conley: 5,213 (L)
    7 Megan England: 18,884 Barbara Bollier: 22,439 Approveda
    8 Don McGuire: 17,758 Jim Denning: 19,847 (I) Approveda
    9 Chris Morrow: 13,708 Julia Lynn: 20,574 (I) Approveda
    10 Vicki Hiatt: 17,722 Mary Pilcher-Cook: 18,673 (I) Approveda
    11 Skip Fannen: 13,983 John Skubal: 25,992 Approveda
    12 Christopher Johnston: 6,918 Caryn Tyson: 18,998 (I) Approveda
    13 Lynn Grant: 12,291 Jacob LaTurner: 15,737 (I) Approveda
    14 Mark Pringle: 7,702 Bruce Givens: 20,452 Approveda
    15 Chuck Schmidt: 9,963 Dan Goddard: 15,511 Approveda
    16 Gabriel Costilla: 11,467 Ty Masterson: 20,980 (I) Approveda
    17 Susan Fowler: 9,147 Jeff Longbine: 13,161 (I) Approveda
    18 Laura Kelly: 15,007 (I) Approveda Dave Jackson: 14,076
    19 Anthony Hensley: 16,181 (I) Approveda Zach Haney: 12,068
    20 Candace Ayars: 11,775 Vicki Schmidt: 22,216 (I) Approveda
    21 Logan Heley: 15,287 Dinah Sykes: 18,149 Approveda Michael Kerner: 2,617 (L)
    22 Tom Hawk (I) Approveda No candidate
    23 Spencer Kerfoot: 12,551 Robert Olson: 19,277 (I) Approveda
    24 Donald Merriman: 11,228 Randall Hardy: 16,195 Approveda
    25 Lynn Rogers: 11,704 Approveda Jim Price: 8,308
    26 Benjamin Poteete: 8,911 Dan Kerschen: 20,274 (I) Approveda
    27 Tony Hunter: 11,209 Gene Suellentrop: 22,252 Approveda
    28 Keith Humphrey: 9,353 Mike Petersen: 9,915 (I) Approveda
    29 Oletha Faust-Goudeau (I) Approveda No candidate
    30 Anabel Larumbe: 11,786 Susan Wagle: 16,636 (I) Approveda
    31 J. Michelle Vann: 8,026 Carolyn McGinn: 23,463 (I) Approveda
    32 Don Shimkus: 9,844 Larry Alley: 16,221 Approveda
    33 Matt Bristow: 6,467 Mary Jo Taylor: 21,114 Approveda
    34 Homer Gilson: 4,664 Edward Berger: 21,559 Approveda
    35 Levi Morris: 8,538 Rick Wilborn: 21,271 (I) Approveda
    36 Brian Angevine: 4,686 Elaine Bowers: 26,816 (I) Approveda
    37 Kevin King: 11,709 Molly Baumgardner: 24,965 (I) Approveda
    38 Miguel Angel Rodriguez: 4,130 Bud Estes: 12,884 Approveda
    39 A. Zacheriah Worf: 3,421 John Doll: 12,884 Approveda
    40 Alex Herman: 8,308 Rick Billinger: 23,964 Approveda
     
    Notes • An (I) denotes an incumbent.
    • Candidate lists can change frequently throughout an election season. Ballotpedia staff update this list monthly. To suggest changes, click here to email our State Legislature Project.

    Primary election[edit]

    2016 Kansas Senate primary candidates
    District Democratic Party Democrat Republican Party Republican Other
    1 Jerry Henry Approveda Dennis Pyle (I) Approveda
    2 Marci Francisco (I) Approveda Meredith Richey Approveda
    3 Tom Holland (I) Approveda Echo Van Meteren Approveda
    4 David Haley (I) Approveda No candidate
    5 Bill Hutton: 2,570 Approveda
    Donald Terrien: 899
    Steve Fitzgerald (I) Approveda
    6 Pat Pettey (I) Approveda No candidate Jason Conley (L) Approveda
    7 Megan England Approveda Barbara Bollier Approveda
    8 Don McGuire Approveda Jim Denning (I) Approveda
    9 Chris Morrow Approveda Julia Lynn (I) Approveda
    10 Vicki Hiatt Approveda Mary Pilcher-Cook (I) Approveda
    11 Skip Fannen Approveda Jeff Melcher: 4,360 (I)
    John Skubal: 5,665 Approveda
    12 Christopher Johnston Approveda Caryn Tyson (I) Approveda
    13 Lynn Grant Approveda Jacob LaTurner (I) Approveda
    14 Mark Pringle: 1,174 Approveda
    Carl Shay Jr.: 980
    Bruce Givens: 6,513 Approveda
    Forrest Knox: 5,900 (I)
    15 Chuck Schmidt Approveda Dan Goddard: 3,549 Approveda
    Virgil Peck: 3,378
    16 Gabriel Costilla Approveda Ty Masterson: 4,697 (I) Approveda
    Troy Tabor II: 3,226
    17 Susan Fowler Approveda Jeff Longbine (I) Approveda
    18 Laura Kelly (I) Approveda Dave Jackson Approveda
    19 Anthony Hensley (I) Approveda Zach Haney Approveda
    20 Candace Ayars: 1,755 Approveda
    Rick Munoz Cortez: 760
    Clarence Hinchy: 230
    Dennis Rogers: 1,005
    Joe Patton: 5,110
    Vicki Schmidt: 5,853 (I) Approveda
    21 Michael Czerniewski: 663
    Logan Heley: 2,956 Approveda
    Greg Smith: 3,226 (I)
    Dinah Sykes: 4,442 Approveda
    Michael Kerner (L) Approveda
    22 Tom Hawk (I) Approveda No candidate
    23 Spencer Kerfoot Approveda Robert Olson (I) Approveda
    24 Donald Merriman Approveda Tom Arpke: 3,884 (I)
    Randall Hardy: 4,307 Approveda
    John Price: 1,103
    25 Lynn Rogers Approveda William Eveland: 890
    Jim Price: 1,907 Approveda
    26 Benjamin Poteete Approveda Byron Dunlavy: 1,446
    Dan Kerschen: 3,913 (I) Approveda
    27 Tony Hunter Approveda Lori Graham: 3,987
    Gene Suellentrop: 4,085 Approveda
    28 Keith Humphrey Approveda Jo Hillman: 681
    Mike Petersen: 2,003 (I) Approveda
    29 Oletha Faust-Goudeau (I) Approveda No candidate
    30 Anabel Larumbe: 1,230 Approveda
    Nathan Tokala: 661
    Susan Wagle (I) Approveda
    31 J. Michelle Vann Approveda Renee Erickson: 4,518
    Carolyn McGinn: 4,776 (I) Approveda
    32 Don Shimkus Approveda Larry Alley Approveda
    33 Matt Bristow Approveda Larry Salmans: 6,816
    Mary Jo Taylor: 7,334 Approveda
    34 Homer Gilson Approveda Edward Berger: 6,279 Approveda
    Terry Bruce: 4,701 (I)
    35 Levi Morris Approveda Rick Wilborn (I) Approveda
    36 Brian Angevine Approveda Elaine Bowers (I) Approveda
    37 Kevin King Approveda Molly Baumgardner (I) Approveda
    38 Miguel Angel Rodriguez Approveda Bud Estes: 4,488 Approveda
    Joyce Warshaw: 2,438
    39 A. Zacheriah Worf Approveda John Doll: 4,664 Approveda
    Larry Powell: 4,246 (I)
    40 Alex Herman Approveda Rick Billinger Approveda
     
    Notes • An (I) denotes an incumbent.
    • Candidate lists can change frequently throughout an election season. Ballotpedia staff update this list monthly. To suggest changes, click here to email our State Legislature Project.

    Margins of victory[edit]

    The average margin of victory for contested races in the Kansas State Senate in 2016 was lower than the national average. Out of 40 races in the Kansas State Senate in 2016, 37 were contested, meaning at least two candidates competed for that seat in the general election. The average margin of victory across these races was 28.1 percent. Across contested single-winner state legislative elections in 2016, the average margin of victory was 29.01 percent.[3]

    Republican candidates in the Kansas State Senate saw larger margins of victory than Democratic candidates in 2016. Republicans won 31 races. In the 31 races where a winning Republican faced a challenger, the average margin of victory was 29.9 percent. Democrats won nine races in 2016. In the six races where a winning Democrat faced a challenger, the average margin of victory was 18.6 percent.
    More Republican candidates than Democratic candidates saw margins of victory that were less than 10 percentage points. Eight of the 37 contested races in 2016—21.6 percent—saw margins of victory that were 10 percent or less. Five races saw margins of victory that were 5 percent or less. Republicans won six races with margins of victory of 10 percent or less.
    The average margin of victory for incumbents in the Kansas State Senate who ran for re-election and won in 2016 was lower than the national average. 26 incumbents who ran for re-election in 2016 won. The average margin of victory for the 23 winning Kansas State Senate incumbents who faced a challenger in 2016 was 24.2 percent. The average margin of victory for all winning incumbents in contested single-winner state legislative elections in 2016 was 31.8 percent.
    Republican incumbents in the Kansas State Senate saw larger margins of victory than Democratic incumbents. 18 Republican incumbents won re-election. In the 18 races where a winning Republican incumbent faced a challenger, the average margin of victory was 25.7 percent. Eight Democratic incumbents won re-election. In the five races where a winning Democratic incumbent faced a challenger, the average margin of victory was 18.9 percent.
    Kansas State Senate: 2016 Margin of Victory Analysis
    Party Elections won Average margin of victory[4] Races with incumbent victories Average margin of victory for incumbents[4] Unopposed incumbents Unopposed races Percent unopposed
    Democratic 9 18.6 percent 8 18.9 percent 3 3 33.3 percent
    Republican 31 29.9 percent 18 25.7 percent 0 0 N/A
    Total 40 28.1 percent 26 24.2 percent 3 3 7.5 percent

    Click [show] on the tables below to see the margin of victory in Kansas State Senate districts in 2016.

    Important dates and deadlines[edit]

    See also: Kansas elections, 2016

    The calendar below lists important dates for political candidates in Kansas in 2016.

    Dates and requirements for candidates in 2016
    Deadline Event type Event description
    January 11, 2016 Campaign finance Report due covering January 1, 2015–December 31, 2015
    June 1, 2016 Ballot access Candidate filing deadline for the primary election
    July 25, 2016 Campaign finance Report due covering January 1, 2016–July 21, 2016
    July 28, 2016 Campaign finance Report due for last minute contributions of $300 or more received between July 22, 2016, and July 27, 2016
    August 1, 2016 Ballot access Candidate filing deadline for the general election
    August 2, 2016 Election date Primary election
    October 31, 2016 Campaign finance Report due covering July 22, 2016–October 27, 2016
    November 3, 2016 Campaign finance Report due for last minute contributions of $300 or more received between October 28, 2016, and November 2, 2016
    November 8, 2016 Election date General election
    January 10, 2017 Campaign finance Report due covering October 28, 2016–December 21, 2016
    Source: Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission, "2016 Election Cycle Reporting Periods and Due Dates for Campaign Finance Reports," updated April 21, 2015
    Kansas Secretary of State, "2016 Election Information," accessed October 28, 2015

    Competitiveness[edit]

    Candidates unopposed by a major party[edit]

    In 4 of the 40 seats up for election in 2016, there was only one major party candidate running for election. Four Democrats were guaranteed election barring unforeseen circumstances.

    Two major party candidates faced off in the general election in 36 (90.0%) of the 40 seats up for election.

    Primary challenges[edit]

    Eleven incumbents faced primary competition on August 2. Eight incumbents did not seek re-election and another 21 incumbents advanced past the primary without opposition. The following incumbents were defeated in the primary:

    Retired incumbents[edit]

    Eight incumbents did not run for re-election, while 32 (80.0%) ran for re-election. A list of those incumbents, eight Republicans, can be found above.

    Results from 2014[edit]

    See also: 2014 state legislative elections analyzed using a Competitiveness Index

    There were 6,057 seats in 87 chambers with elections in 2014. All three aspects of Ballotpedia's Competitiveness Index—the number of open seats, incumbents facing primary opposition, and general elections between partisan candidates—showed poor results compared to the prior election cycle. States with elections in 2014 held fewer general elections between partisan candidates. Additionally, fewer incumbents faced primary opposition and more incumbents ran for re-election than in recent years.

    Since 2010, when the Competitiveness Index was established, there had not been an even-year election cycle to do statistically worse in any of the three categories. See the following chart for a breakdown of those scores between each year.

    Overall Competitiveness
    2010 2012 2014
    Competitiveness Index 36.2 35.8 31.4
     % Open Seats 18.6% 21.2% 17.0%
     % Incumbent with primary challenge 22.7% 24.6% 20.1%
     % Candidates with major party opposition 67.3% 61.7% 57.0%

    The following table details Kansas' rates for open seats, incumbents that faced primary challenges, and major party competition in the 2014 general election.

    Kansas Legislature 2014 Competitiveness
     % Open Seats  % Incumbent with primary challenge  % Candidates with major party opposition Competitiveness Index Overall rank
    10.4% 18.8% 60.0% 29.7 24

    Historical context[edit]

    See also: Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections: 1972-2014

    Uncontested elections: In 2014, 32.8 percent of Americans lived in states with an uncontested state senate election. Similarly, 40.4 percent of Americans lived in states with uncontested house elections. Primary elections were uncontested even more frequently, with 61 percent of people living in states with no contested primaries. Uncontested elections often occur in locations that are so politically one-sided that the result of an election would be a foregone conclusion regardless of whether it was contested or not.

    F5 Pop. % with uncontested state legislative races.png

    Open seats: In most cases, an incumbent will run for re-election, which decreases the number of open seats available. In 2014, 83 percent of the 6,057 seats up for election saw the incumbent running for re-election. The states that impose term limits on their legislatures typically see a higher percentage of open seats in a given year because a portion of incumbents in each election are forced to leave office. Overall, the number of open seats decreased from 2012 to 2014, dropping from 21.2 percent in 2012 to 17.0 percent in 2014.

    Incumbent win rates: Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of elections between 1972 and 2014 documented the high propensity for incumbents to win re-election in state legislative elections. In fact, since 1972, the win rate for incumbents had not dropped below 90 percent—with the exception of 1974, when 88 percent of incumbents were re-elected to their seats. Perhaps most importantly, the win rate for incumbents generally increased over time. In 2014, 96.5 percent of incumbents were able to retain their seats. Common convention holds that incumbents are able to leverage their office to maintain their seat. However, the high incumbent win rate may actually be a result of incumbents being more likely to hold seats in districts that are considered safe for their party.

    Marginal primaries: Often, competitiveness is measured by examining the rate of elections that have been won by amounts that are considered marginal (5 percent or less). During the 2014 election, 90.1 percent of primary and general election races were won by margins higher than 5 percent. Interestingly, it is usually the case that only one of the two races—primary or general—will be competitive at a time. This means that if a district's general election is competitive, typically one or more of the district's primaries were won by more than 5 percent. The reverse is also true: If a district sees a competitive primary, it is unlikely that the general election for that district will be won by less than 5 percent. Primaries often see very low voter turnout in comparison to general elections. In 2014, there were only 27 million voters for state legislative primaries, but approximately 107 million voters for the state legislative general elections.

    Campaign contributions[edit]

    The following chart shows how many candidates ran for State Senate in Kansas in past years and the cumulative amount of campaign contributions in State Senate races, including contributions in both primary and general election contests.[5]

    Kansas State Senate Donations
    Year Candidates Amount
    2012 108 $7,458,259
    2008 98 $6,038,988

    Qualifications[edit]

    Section 4 of Article 2 of the Kansas Constitution states: "During the time that any person is a candidate for nomination or election to the legislature and during the term of each legislator, such candidate or legislator shall be and remain a qualified elector who resides in his or her district."[6]

    See also[edit]

    External links[edit]

    BP-Initials-UPDATED.png
    Suggest a link

    Footnotes[edit]

    1. Under Ballotpedia's competitiveness criteria, districts that have a margin of victory of less than 5 percent are considered highly competitive. Districts that have a margin of victory from 5 to 10 percent are considered mildly competitive.
    2. kwch.com, "Primary election results show changes coming to KS politics," accessed August 4, 2016
    3. This calculation excludes chambers that had elections where two or more members were elected in a race. These chambers are the Arizona House, the New Hampshire House, the North Dakota House, the South Dakota House, the Vermont House, the Vermont Senate, and the West Virginia House.
    4. 4.0 4.1 Excludes unopposed elections
    5. followthemoney.org, "Contributions to candidates and committees in elections in Kansas," accessed July 28, 2015
    6. Kansas State Library, "Kansas Constitution," accessed March 28, 2014


    Current members of the Kansas State Senate
    Leadership
    Senate President:Ty Masterson
    Majority Leader:Larry Alley
    Minority Leader:Dinah Sykes
    Senators
    District 1
    District 2
    District 3
    District 4
    District 5
    District 6
    District 7
    District 8
    District 9
    District 10
    District 11
    District 12
    District 13
    District 14
    District 15
    District 16
    District 17
    District 18
    District 19
    District 20
    District 21
    District 22
    Tom Hawk (D)
    District 23
    District 24
    District 25
    Mary Ware (D)
    District 26
    District 27
    District 28
    District 29
    District 30
    District 31
    District 32
    District 33
    District 34
    District 35
    District 36
    District 37
    District 38
    District 39
    John Doll (R)
    District 40
    Republican Party (29)
    Democratic Party (11)



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