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| Elections in Kansas |
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The 2026 Kansas gubernatorial election is scheduled to take place on November 3, 2026, to elect the next governor of Kansas. Incumbent Democratic Governor Laura Kelly is term-limited and ineligible to seek a third consecutive term. This will be one of five Democratic-held governorships up for election in 2026 in a state that Donald Trump won in the 2024 presidential election and the only one of those states that Trump won by a double-digit margin.
Despite being a longtime red state (and still a strongly red state today), Kelly won the open seat in 2018 with the help of a national "blue wave" in the 2018 midterms as well as the conclusion of the unpopular administration of Sam Brownback, who was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom in 2017. [1] Kelly won re-election in 2022 thanks in part to both her own personal popularity and the negative reaction to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the latter being particularly enhanced by the presence of an abortion referendum on the ballot a few months prior. [2] [3] She was also possibly aided by the presence of a conservative independent candidate, Dennis Pyle, on the ballot, who received about 2% of the vote. Since her re-election, Kelly has seen a rise in personal popularity, and as of 2024 is one of the ten-most popular governors in the country, which some commentators have attributed to her frequent use of her veto powers and frequent travels across the state. [4] [5] However, the Republican Party in Kansas has for a long time been the dominant party in the state of Kansas, holding 5 of 6 seats in Kansas's congressional delegation as well as a supermajority in both chambers of the state legislature.
The Conservative Party of New York State is an American political party founded in 1962 following conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Running on the Conservative Party line, James L. Buckley won election to the U.S. Senate in 1970 and served for one term. Since 2010, the party has held "Row C" on New York ballots—the third-place ballot position, directly below the Democratic and Republican parties—because it received the third-highest number of votes of any political party in the 2010, 2014, 2018, and 2022 New York gubernatorial elections. The party is known for its strategy of attempting to influence the Republican Party in a more conservative direction.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is the Democratic Hill committee for the United States Senate. Its purpose is to elect Democrats to the United States Senate. The DSCC's current Chair is Senator Gary Peters of Michigan, who succeeded Nevada's Catherine Cortez Masto after the 2020 Senate elections. DSCC's current executive director is Christie Roberts.
Winsome Sears is an American politician and Marine Corps veteran serving as the 42nd lieutenant governor of Virginia. A member of the Republican Party, Sears served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002 to 2004. She also served on the Virginia Board of Education, and she ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House of Representatives in Virginia's 3rd congressional district in 2004 and for U.S. Senate in 2018. In 2021, Sears was elected lieutenant governor of Virginia. Sears is a candidate for the 2025 Virginia gubernatorial election.
Susan Wagle is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Kansas Senate, representing the 30th district from 2001 to 2021. She was elected Kansas Senate President in 2013 and was reelected in 2017. She is the first woman to hold this position.
Laura Jeanne Kelly is an American politician serving since 2019 as the 48th governor of Kansas. A member of the Democratic Party, she represented the 18th district in the Kansas Senate from 2005 to 2019. Kelly was elected governor in 2018, defeating Republican nominee Kris Kobach. She was reelected in 2022, narrowly defeating Republican nominee Derek Schmidt by a 2.21% margin.
Christopher Thomas Sununu is an American politician and engineer who has served since 2017 as the 82nd governor of New Hampshire.
The 2018 Kansas gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of Kansas. Incumbent Republican governor Sam Brownback was term-limited and could not seek a third consecutive term.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 5, 2019, in Kentucky and Mississippi, and on October 12, 2019, with a runoff on November 16, in Louisiana. These elections formed part of the 2019 United States elections. The last regular gubernatorial elections for all three states were in 2015. The Democrats had to defend an incumbent in Louisiana, while the Republicans had to defend an incumbent in Kentucky plus an open seat in Mississippi. Though all three seats up were in typically Republican states, the election cycle became unexpectedly competitive: Kentucky and Louisiana were seen as highly contested races; and Mississippi's race ultimately became closer than usual, despite being seen as favorable for the Republicans.
The 2022 United States elections were held on November 8, 2022, with the exception of absentee balloting. During this U.S. midterm election, which occurred during the term of incumbent president Joe Biden of the Democratic Party, all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate were contested to determine the 118th United States Congress. Thirty-nine state and territorial U.S. gubernatorial elections, as well as numerous state and local elections, were also contested. This was the first election affected by the 2022 redistricting that followed the 2020 census. The Republican Party ended unified Democratic control of Congress and the presidency by winning a majority in the House of Representatives while Democrats expanded their Senate majority.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 8, 2022, in 36 states and three territories. As most governors serve four-year terms, the last regular gubernatorial elections for all but two of the seats took place in the 2018 U.S. gubernatorial elections. The gubernatorial elections took place concurrently with several other federal, state, and local elections, as part of the 2022 midterm elections.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 2, 2021, in two states, New Jersey and Virginia, and a recall election was held in California on September 14. These elections form part of the 2021 United States elections. The last gubernatorial elections for New Jersey and Virginia were in 2017, and the last regular gubernatorial election for California was in 2018. Going into the elections, all three seats were held by Democrats.
The 2022 Michigan gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Michigan. Incumbent Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer ran for re-election to a second term and faced former political commentator Tudor Dixon in the general election. Whitmer defeated Dixon by a margin of roughly 10.5 percentage points, a wider margin than polls indicated as well as a wider margin than Whitmer's first victory four years prior. Whitmer won independent voters by double-digit margins, which contributed to Dixon's defeat.
The 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the governor of Kansas, with primary elections taking place on August 2, 2022. Governor Laura Kelly ran for re-election to a second term, facing Republican State Attorney General Derek Schmidt in the general election. Kelly defeated Schmidt by a margin of roughly 2.2 percentage points.
The 2026 United States Senate elections are scheduled to be held on November 3, 2026, with 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested in regular elections, the winners of which will serve 6-year terms in the United States Congress from January 3, 2027, to January 3, 2033. Senators are divided into 3 groups, or classes, whose terms are staggered so that a different class is elected every 2 years. Class 2 senators were last elected in 2020, and will be up for election in this cycle.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 7, 2023, in the states of Kentucky and Mississippi, with an election having occurred in Louisiana on October 14. These elections form part of the 2023 United States elections. The last regular gubernatorial elections for all three states were in 2019.
The 2024 United States presidential election in Kansas took place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, as part of the 2024 United States elections in which all 50 states plus the District of Columbia will participate. Kansas voters will choose electors to represent them in the Electoral College via a popular vote. The state of Kansas has six electoral votes in the Electoral College, following reapportionment due to the 2020 United States census in which the state neither gained nor lost a seat.
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 5, 2024, in 11 states and two territories. The previous gubernatorial elections for this group of states took place in 2020, except in New Hampshire and Vermont, where governors only serve two-year terms and elected their governors in 2022. In addition to state gubernatorial elections, the territories of American Samoa and Puerto Rico held elections for their governors.
The 2024 Utah gubernatorial election was held on November 5, 2024, to elect the governor of Utah, concurrently with the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as well as elections to the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican Governor Spencer Cox won re-election to a second term, defeating Democratic nominee, state Representative Brian King and Republican state Representative Phil Lyman, who ran as a write-in candidate after being defeated in the Republican primary. Primary elections took place on June 25, 2024.
The 2026 United States elections are scheduled to be held, in large part, on Tuesday, November 3, 2026. In this U.S. midterm election, which will occur during the second term of President Donald Trump, all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 33 of the 100 seats in the U.S. Senate will be contested to determine the 120th United States Congress. 39 state and territorial U.S. gubernatorial elections, as well as numerous state and local elections, will also be contested.
United States gubernatorial elections are scheduled to be held on November 3, 2026, in 36 states and three territories. The previous gubernatorial elections for this group of states took place in 2022, except in New Hampshire and Vermont, where governors serve two-year terms and elected their governors in 2024. Many of the states with elections in this cycle have incumbents who are officially term-limited.