The 2022 Kansas gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 2022, to elect the

governor of Kansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the type of political region or polity, a ''governor'' ma ...

, with

primary election Primary elections or primaries are elections held to determine which candidates will run in an upcoming general election. In a partisan primary, a political party selects a candidate. Depending on the state and/or party, there may be an "open pr ...

s taking place on August 2, 2022. Governor

Laura Kelly Laura Jeanne Kelly (born January 24, 1950)"Laura Kelly,"
''Kansapedia,'' Kansas H ...

won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican State Attorney General Derek Schmidt in the general election by a margin of roughly 2.2 percentage points. This was the only statewide victory in 2022 for Democrats in Kansas. This was the only Democratic-held governorship up for election in

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

in a state

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

won in the 2020 presidential election, and the race was expected to be one of the most competitive gubernatorial races in the nation. Some analysts and

Kansas Republican Party The Kansas Republican Party is the state affiliate political party in Kansas of the United States Republican Party. The Kansas Republican Party was organized in May 1859. At the state level, the party is largely split between its moderate and co ...

officials had also predicted that Dennis Pyle, who was on the ballot as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

, would have a

spoiler effect In social choice theory and politics, a spoiler effect happens when a losing candidate affects the results of an election simply by participating. Voting rules that are not affected by spoilers are said to be spoilerproof. The frequency and se ...

benefiting Kelly. This was the first gubernatorial election in Kansas since

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

in which the winner was from the same party as the incumbent president.

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominated

Laura Kelly Laura Jeanne Kelly (born January 24, 1950)"Laura Kelly,"
''Kansapedia,'' Kansas H ...

, incumbent governor (2019–present) ** Running mate:

David Toland David C. Toland (born May 27, 1977) is an American politician and businessman concurrently serving as the 52nd lieutenant governor of Kansas and Kansas secretary of commerce. Early life and education A seventh-generation Kansas native, Toland w ...

, incumbent lieutenant governor (2021–present) and Secretary of Commerce (2019–present)

Eliminated in primary

*Richard Karnowski, accountant ** Running mate: Barry Franco

Results

2022 Kansas gubernatorial Democratic primary

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominated

Derek Schmidt Derek Larkin Schmidt (born January 23, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district since 2025. He previously served as the Kansas Attorney General from 2011 to 2023. A Repu ...

Kansas Attorney General The attorney general of Kansas is a statewide elected official responsible for providing legal services to the state government of Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of ...

(2011–2023) ** Running mate: Katie Sawyer, political staffer

Eliminated in primary

*Arlyn Briggs,

perennial candidate A perennial candidate is a political candidate who frequently runs for elected office and rarely, if ever, wins. Perennial candidates are most common where there is no limit on the number of times that a person can run for office and little cost ...

** Running mate: Lance Berland, candidate for the U.S. Senate in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Withdrew

Jeff Colyer Jeffrey William Colyer (born June 3, 1960) is an American surgeon and politician who served as the 47th governor of Kansas from January 31, 2018, to January 14, 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 49th lieutenant governor of Kan ...

, former governor (2018–2019) and former

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

(2011–2018) ''(endorsed Schmidt)'' *Chase LaPorte, businessman

Declined

Wink Hartman Willis E. "Wink" Hartman (born February 1, 1946) is an American businessman and political candidate from the state of Kansas. Early life Born in Wichita, Kansas, Hartman attended Wichita Southeast High School, class of 1964, and graduated from W ...

, businessman and nominee for lieutenant governor in

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Kris Kobach Kris William Kobach ( ; born March 26, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the attorney general of Kansas since 2023. He previously served as the 31st secretary of state of Kansas from 2011 to 2019. A former chairman o ...

, former

Kansas Secretary of State The secretary of state of Kansas is one of the constitutional officers of the U.S. state of Kansas. The current secretary of state is the former speaker ''pro tempore'' of the Kansas House of Representatives, Scott Schwab, who was sworn in on J ...

(2011–2019), nominee for governor in

, and candidate for the U.S. Senate in

''( running for Kansas Attorney General)'' *

Jerry Moran Gerald Wesley Moran ( ; born May 29, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who is the senior United States senator from Kansas, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he was chair of the National Republican Senato ...

, U.S. senator (2011–present) ''( running for re-election)'' *

Ron Ryckman Jr. Ronald Ryckman Jr. (December 17, 1971) is an American politician who represented the 78th District in the Kansas House of Representatives from 2013 to 2023, and served as the Speaker of the House from 2017 to 2023. He was first elected to the Ka ...

Speaker Speaker most commonly refers to: * Speaker, a person who produces speech * Loudspeaker, a device that produces sound ** Computer speakers Speaker, Speakers, or The Speaker may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * "Speaker" (song), by David ...

of the

Kansas House of Representatives The Kansas House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. Composed of 125 state representatives from districts with roughly equal populations of at least 19,000, its members are responsible for craftin ...

(2017–2023) from the 78th District (2013–2023) ''(endorsed Schmidt)''

Endorsements

Polling

Results

2022 Kansas gubernatorial Republican primary

Independent

Candidates

Declared

Dennis Pyle Dennis D. Pyle (born February 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Kansas Senate, representing the 1st district from 2005 to 2025. He ran for governor of Kansas in the 2022 election. Legislative career ...

, state senator from the 1st district, former Republican (2005–2025) **Kathleen Garrison, Clearwater school board member

General election

Campaign

Reporters noted the lack of attention towards

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

as an issue in the campaign by both major candidates, despite the defeat of an abortion amendment in August which was widely seen as a prominent victory for the pro-choice movement. In televised debates, Schmidt said that he respected the referendum results and accused Kelly of opposing existing abortion restrictions. Kelly denied the accusation, saying that she had stayed consistent on the subject, and further adding that she believed in "

bodily autonomy Bodily integrity is the inviolability of the physical body and emphasizes the importance of personal autonomy, self-ownership, and self-determination of human beings over their own bodies. In the field of human rights, violation of the bodily int ...

" for women. When pressed on whether they would support retaining all justices in the

state Supreme Court In the United States, a state supreme court (known by other names in some states) is the highest court in the state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of state law, the judgment of a state supreme court is considered final and binding in ...

who ruled abortion as a fundamental constitutional right in 2019 and were up on the ballot, Kelly said that she would, while Schmidt said he would vote to retain some and not others. Instead, both candidates focused more on "kitchen-table" issues such as the economy and education, where polls showed that the former of which was the most important concern among voters. Kelly's campaign tied Schmidt with former governor

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011 and as the List of governors of Kansas, 46th governor of K ...

and his Kansas experiment, highlighting Schmidt's defense of lawsuits regarding

budget cut In economic policy, austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: high ...

s to public education as the attorney general. In the contrary, Schmidt's campaign tied Kelly with President Joe Biden by focusing on national issues such as the increase in inflation and gas prices, portraying them as "big-spending liberals". Other issues include

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing other ...

and

transgender people in sports The participation of transgender people in competitive sports, a traditionally sex-segregated institution, has become a subject of debate and discussion. Particularly, the inclusion of transgender women and girls in women's sports. Opponent ...

. Aside from state Supreme Court justice

retention election A retention election or retention referendum is a referendum where voters are asked if an office holder, usually a judge, should be allowed to continue in that office. The judge is removed from office if a majority of votes are cast against rete ...

s and other statewide elections, the election was also held on the same ballot as two referendums for proposed constitutional amendments. Question 1 would authorize the

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...

any rules and regulations implemented by Kansas's executive branch with a simple majority. The proposal was spearheaded by Schmidt in 2021 in response to Governor Kelly's pandemic-related measures to close schools temporarily and he made

COVID-19 lockdowns During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of Non-pharmaceutical intervention (epidemiology), non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar socie ...

and mandates as a focal point in his platform. Kelly's campaign countered that the amendment would be a "power grab" that could create further

gridlock Gridlock is a form of traffic congestion where continuous queues of vehicles block an entire network of intersecting streets, bringing traffic in all directions to a complete standstill. The term originates from a situation possible in a grid ...

in the state's legislative process. Question 2 would require most sheriffs to be elected directly by voters and that they could only be removed by a

recall election A recall election (also called a recall referendum, recall petition or representative recall) is a procedure by which voters can remove an elected official from office through a referendum before that official's term of office has ended. Recalls ...

or a challenge by the state attorney general. In a press release, Schmidt said that he would campaign for the amendment, arguing that electing sheriffs would make them "uniquely accountable to the people". Critics pointed out that the amendment could create

abuse of power Abuse of power or abuse of authority, in the form of "malfeasance in office" or "official abuse of power", is the commission of an Crime, unlawful act, done in an official capacity, which affects the performance of official duties. Malfeasan ...

as the authority to investigate the sheriff would be stripped from

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

s in every county and the attorney general could "play favorites" into which sheriff to investigate. In the end, Question 1 failed narrowly by a one-point margin, while Question 2 passed with 62% of the vote.

Predictions

Post-primary endorsements

Polling

Aggregate polls
Graphical summary

Debates and forums

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Crawford (largest city:

Pittsburg Pittsburg may refer to: Places United States Cities, towns, townships and counties *Pittsburg, California * Pittsburg, Florida *Pittsburg, Kansas, Crawford County *Pittsburg, New Hampshire * Pittsburg, Oklahoma *Pittsburg, Texas *Pittsburg Coun ...

) * Harvey (largest city:

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

)

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Geary (largest city: Junction City) Kelly 2022 vote no radar chart

By congressional district

Kelly won two of four congressional districts, including one that elected a Republican.

Analysis

Laura Kelly won the election by a margin of 2.2 percentage points over Derek Schmidt, similar to the percentage of votes that independent Dennis Pyle received.

Chair Mike Kuckelman pointed to this as evidence that Pyle was somewhat responsible for Schmidt's defeat. However, Pyle insisted that "Kansas needed a strong conservative candidate" and instead highlighted Schmidt's underperformance compared to other Republican candidates in Kansas. This was the first election since 2002 where the winner of the United States Senate election in Kansas was of a different party from the winner of the concurrent gubernatorial election. Kelly's personal popularity was also a factor in her victory, where a majority of voters approved of Kelly's job performance, while only a third did so for President Joe Biden. Her win was also propelled by Democratic candidates' increased strength in suburban areas, such as Johnson County, in spite of Schmidt's increased vote share from 2018 in the Republican strongholds of rural Kansas. Kelly also won Sedgwick County, home of Wichita, by 2.9%, receiving 1.8% more of the vote than in the 2018 Kansas gubernatorial election. According to a survey conducted by NORC and published by

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

, Kelly won independent voters by double-digit margins, which contributed to Schmidt's defeat.

Exit polls

According to

's voter analysis of the 2022 race, Kelly won women voters (51% Kelly, 45% Schmidt), voters 18–29 (51% Kelly, 43% Schmidt),

millennials Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s a ...

(55%, 39%),

Gen X Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the demographic cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the late 1970s as its ending birth y ...

(50%, 47%), college-educated voters (57%, 40%), and Latino/Hispanic voters (58%). Kelly lost voters who were concerned about inflation by four points (46%). She lost voters who listed groceries and food as their most important inflation concern by one point. 69% of voters listed abortion as an important factor in their vote, and Kelly won this group by 24 points (60%, 36%), closely mirroring the results of the

2022 Kansas abortion referendum The 2022 Kansas abortion referendum was a rejected legislatively referred constitutional amendment to the Kansas Constitution that appeared on the ballot on August 2, 2022, alongside primary elections for statewide offices, with early voting f ...

. She won voters who listed "the future of democracy in this country" as an important factor in their vote (88% of voters) by seven points (52%).

Notes

Partisan clients

References

External links

Official campaign websites
Seth Cordell (L) for Governor

Laura Kelly (D) for Governor

Dennis Pyle (I) for Governor

Derek Schmidt (R) for Governor
{{2022 United States elections

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

November 2022 in the United States

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominated

Eliminated in primary

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominated

Eliminated in primary

Withdrew

Declined

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Independent

Candidates

Declared

General election

Campaign

Predictions

Post-primary endorsements

Polling

Debates and forums

Results

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

By congressional district

Analysis

Exit polls

See also

Notes

References

External links