The 2018 Kansas gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of Kansas. On July 26, 2017, 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 ...

was nominated by President

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 ...

to serve as

United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom The United States ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom is the ambassador-at-large of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom in the U.S. Department of State. The position was created by the Interna ...

. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on January 24, 2018; he resigned the governorship on January 31 and was succeeded by Lieutenant Governor

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 ...

. Colyer was eligible to seek a full term and announced his candidacy prior to becoming Governor of Kansas. In the August 7 primary, Colyer ran against CPA and incumbent Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer, Topeka doctor and 2006 Republican Kansas gubernatorial nominee Jim Barnett, and Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. On August 7, 2018, Kobach defeated Colyer in the Republican gubernatorial primary by an initial margin of 191 votes, a lead that increased to 361 votes by August 14, although discrepancies in some counties needed resolution and provisional and absentee ballots may not have been counted in some counties. Colyer conceded the Republican nomination after the final votes were tallied, in which Kobach's margin grew slightly. State Senator Laura Kelly easily won the Democratic nomination and won the general election, assuming office on January 14, 2019. Businessman Greg Orman, who finished second as an independent in the 2014 U.S. Senate race against incumbent Republican

Pat Roberts Charles Patrick Roberts (born April 20, 1936) is a retired American politician and journalist who served as a United States senator from Kansas from 1997 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, Roberts served 8 terms in the U.S. House of R ...

, ran for governor as an independent candidate. As, aside from a two-term limit for incumbents, the Constitution of Kansas places no limitations of any kind on who may seek the office, several teenagers (including one who had never been to the state), filed to run for governor, drawing media attention. A debate took place on September 5 between the three candidates that consistently polled above 5%. Polls in late August had Kelly and Kobach running close with Orman polling in the single digits. Kelly's win continued a streak of party turnover for governor of Kansas, as Kansas has not elected two consecutive governors of the same party since William Avery succeeded fellow Republican John Anderson Jr. following the 1964 election, and neither major party has held the governorship for longer than eight consecutive years since Republican John McCuish left office in 1957.

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominated

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 ...

Secretary of State of Kansas 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 Ja ...

and nominee for KS-03 in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

** Running mate: Wink Hartman, businessman and candidate for KS-04 in 2010

Eliminated in primary

* Jim Barnett, former state senator, nominee for governor in

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and candidate for KS-01 in

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 ...

** Running mate: Rosemary Hansen, Barnett's wife *

, incumbent governor and candidate for KS-03 in

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

** Running mate:

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 ...

, incumbent lieutenant governor * Patrick Kucera, businessman ** Running Mate: Patricia Reitz * Tyler Ruzich, high school student ** Running mate: Dominic Scavuzzo, high school student * Ken Selzer, Kansas Insurance Commissioner ** Running mate: Jen Sanderson, businesswoman * Joseph Tutera Jr., high school student ** Running mate: Phillip Clemente, high school student

Withdrew

* Wink Hartman, businessman and candidate for KS-04 in

(ran for lieutenant governor). Hartman joined Kris Kobach's campaign as his Lieutenant Gubernatorial candidate.

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominated

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

, state senator ** Running mate: Lynn Rogers, state senator

Eliminated in primary

* Arden Andersen, physician ** Running mate: Dale Cowsert, businessman * Jack Bergeson, high school student ** Running mate: Alexander Cline, high school student * Carl Brewer, former

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Wichita ** Running mate: Chris Morrow, former mayor of Gardner * Josh Svaty, former Kansas Secretary of Agriculture and former state representative ** Running mate: Katrina Gier Lewison, Manhattan-Ogden USD 383 Board of Education member, veteran

Withdrew

* Jim Ward, Minority Leader 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 ...

Declined

* Paul Davis, former Minority Leader of the

and nominee for governor in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

(running for KS-02)

Endorsements

Polling

Results

Independent candidates

Candidates

On the ballot

* Rick Kloos **Running mate: Nathaniel Kloos, son of Rick Kloos * Greg Orman, businessman and candidate for the U.S. Senate in

**Running mate: John Doll, state senator

Write-in

* Aaron Coleman, college student

Failed to qualify

* Ilan Cohen, high school student from Maryland * Max Correa, college student from North Carolina * Joe Larry Hunter, former inmate * Andy Maskin, New York City Advertiser **Running mate: Scott Goodwin, Connecticut Advertiser * Victor Redko, McGill University student * Jared Rogers, University of Pennsylvania student * Nicholas Schrieber, college student from Delaware **Running mate: Matthew Ueckermann, college student from Maryland * Conner Shelton, college student from Pennsylvania

Libertarian convention

Candidates

Nominated

* Jeff Caldwell, executive committee member for the Libertarian Party of Kansas **Running mate: Mary Gerlt

Withdrew

* Thomas Padgett

General election

Predictions

Debates

Endorsements

Polling

with Kris Kobach and Laura Kelly
with Kris Kobach and Greg Orman
with Jeff Colyer
with generic Republican, Democrat, and Independent

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Harvey (largest city: Newton) *

Johnson Johnson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Johnson (surname), a common surname in English * Johnson (given name), a list of people * List of people with surname Johnson, including fictional characters *Johnson (composer) (1953–2011) ...

(largest municipality:

Overland Park Overland Park ( ) is the largest city in Johnson County, Kansas, United States, and the second-most populous city in the state of Kansas. It is one of four principal cities in the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the pop ...

) * Sedgwick (largest municipality: Wichita)

Counties that flipped from Democratic to Republican

* Jefferson (largest municipality: Valley Falls)

By congressional district

Kelly won two of four congressional districts, including one that was carried by a Republican in the concurrent congressional elections.

Maps

File:Kansas gubernatorial election, 2018 (Orman).svg, Support for Orman by county:

References

External links

Candidates
at

Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is an American non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected offic ...

Candidates
at

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Debates
GOP Primary Debate, February 17, 2018
Official campaign websites
Jeff Caldwell (L) for GovernorIlan Cohen (I) for Governor

ArchiveAaron Coleman (I) for Governor

ArchiveLaura Kelly (D) for Governor
*
Kris Kobach (R) for Governor

Greg Orman (I) for Governor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kansas gubernatorial election, 2018

Gubernatorial 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 ...

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 ...

2018 United States gubernatorial elections November 2018 in the United States