A general election was held in the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

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 ...

on November 6, 2018. Primary elections were held on August 7, 2018. Voters elected all six executive officers, the lower house of 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 ...

, and all of the state's delegations to the

U.S. House The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

U.S. House of Representatives

Kansas elected four U.S. representatives, one for each

congressional districts Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

. In 2018, the delegation's Republican majority changed from 4–0 to 3–1, the first time Democrats had held a seat in the state since

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Governor and lieutenant governor

Incumbent Republicans

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 ...

and

Tracey Mann Tracey Robert Mann (born December 17, 1976) is an American businessman and politician who has served as the U.S. representative from Kansas's 1st congressional district since 2021. The district, popularly known as "the Big First," includes part ...

lost their party's renomination in a tight primary election won by Secretary of State

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 ...

and businessman

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 ...

by a margin of around 0.1 percent. Democrats nominated state senators

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

and Lynn Rogers, with businessman

Greg Orman Gregory John Orman (born December 2, 1968) is an American politician, businessman, and entrepreneur. He ran as an independent to represent Kansas in the United States Senate in the 2014 election, earning 42.5 percent of the vote and losing to in ...

and state senator John Doll joining the race as independents. Polls leading up to the election had Kobach and Kelly running close, leading to many news outlets predicting a tossup election. Kelly won the election, beating Kobach by five percentage points. Kelly became the oldest governor in Kansas history, taking office at the age of 68.

Secretary of state

Incumbent Republican secretary of state

retired to run for governor, leaving the seat open. State representative

Scott Schwab Scott Joseph Schwab (born July 9, 1972) is an American politician serving as the 32nd Secretary of State of Kansas. He served as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing the 49th district, from 2009 to 2019. He also served a ...

won the Republican primary amidst a number of candidates, while Democratic nominee Brian McClendon ran unopposed after his challengers withdrew. Schwab won the election.

Republican primary

Democratic primary

General election

Attorney general

Incumbent Republican

attorney general In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

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 ...

ran for re-election to a third term. He successfully defeated Democratic nominee Sarah Swain by 18 points.

Republican primary

Democratic primary

General election

Treasurer

Incumbent Republican

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

Jake LaTurner Jacob Andrew Joseph LaTurner (born February 17, 1988) is an American politician who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Republican Pa ...

was appointed to the office on April 25, 2017, following the resignation of his predecessor

Ron Estes Ronald Gene Estes ( ; born July 19, 1956) is an American politician who has been the U.S. representative for since April 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Kansas State Treasurer from 2011 to 2017. A fifth-generation Kansan ...

to join the U.S. House of Representatives. He ran for election to a full term, defeating his Democratic challenger State Senator Marci Francisco by 15.49 points.

Republican primary

Democratic primary

General election

Insurance commissioner

Incumbent Republican

Insurance Commissioner An insurance commissioner (or commissioner of insurance) is a public official in the executive branch of a state or territory in the United States who, along with their office, regulate the insurance industry. The powers granted to the office of ...

Ken Selzer retired to run for governor, leaving the seat open. Republican state senators

Vicki Schmidt Vicki Schmidt (born September 15, 1955) is an American politician who is currently the Kansas Insurance Commissioner. She was a Republican member of the Kansas Senate, representing the 20th district, from 2005 to 2019. She also served as the Se ...

and

Clark Shultz Clark Shultz (born 1957) is a former Republican member of the Kansas Senate, having represented the 35th district. Following the resignation of Jay Emler in January 2014, he was selected to take the position by Precinct and Township Republican ...

competed in a close primary, with Schmidt winning the nomination. The Democratic nominee was president of the Kansas

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is an American civil rights organization formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. B. Du&nbs ...

Nathaniel McLaughlin. Schmidt won the election with the highest vote percentage of any statewide candidate.

Republican primary

Democratic primary

General election

State Board of Education

State House of Representatives

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 ...

held elections for all 125 seats in 2018. Republicans maintained their supermajority in the chamber, with neither parties making any gains.

References

{{2018 United States elections