Kansas

The GOP expects to keep Kansas' open House seat. Democratic Rep. Davids looks tough to beat

Published

1 year ago

November 5, 2024

The GOP expects to keep Kansas' open House seat. Democratic Rep. Davids looks tough to beat

TOPEKA, Kan. — Republicans expected a former Kansas attorney general’s political comeback in Tuesday’s election to keep an open U.S. House seat in GOP hands while the party faced a tougher challenge in trying to oust the only Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation.

Republican Derek Schmidt sought the 2nd Congressional District seat held by retiring two-term Republican Rep. Jake LaTurner. Schmidt, who served three terms as attorney general, was coming off a narrow loss in the 2022 governor’s race and faced Nancy Boyda, making her own comeback bid as the last Democrat to hold the seat.

In the 3rd District in the Kansas City area, Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids faced Republican Prasanth Reddy, a doctor and former vice president of two medical research companies. Most of the district’s voters are in suburbs that have been friendly to Davids.

In the state’s two other districts, Republican Reps. Tracey Mann and Ron Estes were expected to win reelection comfortably.

Democrats have held the 2nd District seat previously, but not since Boyda served a single, two-year term and lost her race for reelection in 2008. LaTurner won both of his two terms by about 15 percentage points and would have likely cruised to victory again, but he announced in April that he wanted to spend more time with his children.

Schmidt is often affable in public, and he worked early in his career for two moderate Republicans, U.S. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker and Gov. Bill Graves, before serving in the state Senate and being elected attorney general in 2010. That’s created lingering distrust among hard-right Republicans.

But Schmidt easily won a five-person primary this year — partly because former President Donald Trump declared in a social media endorsement post that Schmidt was “An America First Patriot” and, “HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”

Rep. Nancy Boyda, D-Kan., stands with her son Ben Thrutchley as she prepares to deliver her concession speech at a Democratic Party watch party in Topeka, Kan., Nov. 4, 2008. Credit: AP/Charlie Riedel

In the 3rd District, Davids gained national attention when she unseated a Republican incumbent in 2018 as a Native American, lesbian and former mixed martial arts fighter. Republicans still lump her in with the most liberal members of Congress. Her vocal support of abortion rights helps in her district, but she’s also positioned herself as a business-friendly and pragmatic centrist.

The key to a 3rd District victory is heavily suburban Johnson County, the state’s most populous county. Trump’s support has waned there since his victory in the 2016 presidential race, hurting Republicans, while Davids’ margins of victory have grown.

The 1st District that Mann represents includes the liberal northeastern Kansas enclave of Lawrence, home to the main University of Kansas campus, but its influence can’t overcome the GOP’s strength in the rest of the district covering the state’s western third and much of central Kansas. Mann is a former Kansas lieutenant governor who’s had no trouble winning his two previous terms.

His Democratic opponent was Paul Buskirk, an academic counselor and adviser for student athletes at the University of Kansas.

The 4th District of south-central Kansas is centered on Estes’ hometown of Wichita, and he’s a former two-term state treasurer. He’s held the seat since winning a special election in 2017 to replace Mike Pompeo, who was appointed by Trump to be CIA director and later U.S. secretary of state.

His Democratic opponent is Esau Freeman, a painter and union leader who is best known for advocating the legalization of marijuana.

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Kansas

Storms late Friday night into early Saturday morning caused damage across the Kansas City area

Published

12 hours ago

March 7, 2026

Press Room

Storms late Friday night into early Saturday morning caused damage across the Kansas City area

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Severe weather hit the Kansas City area late Friday night into early Saturday morning, leading to damage across the metro.

At St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School, located near 40th and Main streets in Kansas City, Missouri, one of its fences was taken down due to the storm, as well as a tree that fell away from the property.

KSHB 41

Fence down at St. Paul's Episcopal Day School

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A tree fell onto the front of a duplex and a pickup truck in Merriam at around midnight. No injuries were reported.

tree down at 52nd and Knox Ave in Merriam

In addition to the damage, a flood warning has been issued for the Marais Des Cygnes River at Osawatomie until early Monday morning.

As of 4 a.m. Saturday, the stage was at 27.9 feet, according to the Miami County Sheriff’s Office.

The river is expected to crest Saturday afternoon at 28.6 feet, higher than the 28 feet at which low-lying areas along the river begin to flood, authorities said.

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Kansas

Storm causes power outages in Kansas City metro

Published

1 day ago

March 7, 2026

Press Room

Storm causes power outages in Kansas City metro

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Residents are without power after a storm swept through the Kansas City metro late Friday night into Saturday morning.

According to Evergy’s power outage map, as of 12:22 a.m., 76 active outages are causing 1,628 customers to be without power.

Over 1,000 customers are without power in the Kansas City area.(KCTV5)

WEATHER UPDATES: First Warn Weather Day: The final round of storms on the way. Here’s what to expect

This is an active situation. KCTV5 will make updates to this story as they’re made available.

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Kansas

Chiefs President: New team facilities in Olathe will connect with schools, city

Published

2 days ago

March 6, 2026

Press Room

Chiefs President: New team facilities in Olathe will connect with schools, city

KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers Johnson County. She’s reported on the Chiefs’ decision to move its team facility to Olathe since the team made the announcement in December. That coverage has included amplifying the voices of residents who have different perspectives on the project, which has ranged from excitement to scrutiny. Share your story idea with Elyse.

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Kansas City Chiefs President Mark Donovan said Friday the team is drawing inspiration from recent team headquarters projects with the Minnesota Vikings and Dallas Cowboys as they develop plans for their own new headquarters in Olathe.

In December, the club reached an agreement with Kansas officials to move across the state line. The agreement called for a $3 billion, domed stadium in western Kansas City, Kansas, and a new team headquarters and practice facility near Kansas Highway 10 and Ridgeview Road in Olathe.

Donovan’s remarks on Friday came during the Olathe Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center.

Elyse Schoenig/KSHB

The Olathe Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting on Friday, March 6, 2026, at the Embassy Suites Hotel and Conference Center.

The chamber’s theme for 2026, “Olathe Rising,” appears well-timed as the Chiefs work to build out their team headquarters vision.

Donovan said the team and its partners have been busy behind the scenes and hope to have updates on the project in the near future.

He said the club will look to work with the Olathe School District and the Olathe City Council in their plans.

The club is exploring a unique component to the facility by incorporating flag football into the project.

Flag football has been a priority of the club and the National Football League. The sport will make its Olympic debut at the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

In April, the Kansas State High School Athletics Association is set to vote on whether to sanction girls’ flag football as a high school varsity sport.

Funding for the club’s Olathe project will come in part from the sale of bonds paid for by certain sales tax revenues.

In February, the Olathe City Council approved participation in a STAR bonds district to build the team’s new headquarters and training facility at College Boulevard and Ridgeview Road.

Elsewhere on Friday, Kansas legislators introduced the Kansas Sports Authority Act. The act would create a nine-member board to oversee all aspects of sports facility construction.

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