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!”

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.

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — The undefeated Kansas City Chiefs will look to move to 8-0 today in a Monday Night Football matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The game will air on ESPN and ABC, with the top crew of Joe Buck and Troy Aikman on the call.

It is the second time for both teams on Monday Night Football this season. The game will kickoff at 8:15 p.m. Eastern.

Several streaming services will broadcast the Nov. 4 game live, and you can watch on Fubo (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial) and Sling (promotional offers).

The Chiefs are still trying to avoid their first loss, as MVP favorite — quarterback Patrick Mahomes — has helped push the Chiefs to this point. Along with a stellar defense, Kansas City has allowed just 20 or more points in three of its seven games.

The Buccaneers are in perhaps the polar opposite position. Wide receivers Chris Godwin and Mike Evans have suffered long-term injuries, with Godwin notably out for the season. They’ve also lost two-straight games, including three of four.

Check out a complete rundown of NFL Week 9 action, including the schedule, predictions, previews, TV information and more.

Chiefs – Buccaneers Matchup Preview

The Chiefs are riding high atop the AFC and NFL standings with a dominant start to the season. They’re looking for a three-peat, and appear well on their way to being one of the AFC’s top seeds in the playoffs.

The Buccaneers are in some big time trouble, as they bring a 4-4 record into Kansas City. Aside from a 51-27 win over the Saints on Oct. 13, they’ve won just one game since Sept. 29.

Chiefs – Buccaneers Last Game Recap

The Chiefs won, again, over an AFC West foe, while the Buccaneers dropped another disappointing game against the Falcons.

Kansas City Chiefs: Beat the Las Vegas Raiders 27-20 on Oct. 27.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Lost to the Atlanta Falcons 31-26 on Oct. 27.

Chiefs – Buccaneers Players to Watch

The Chiefs are loaded with a talented offense and defense, while the Buccaneers are trying to work in various new offensive weapons absent some major contributors.

Kansas City Chiefs: Quarterback Patrick Mahomes (68.4% completion percentage, 8 touchdowns, 9 interceptions, 1,651 yards passing), tight end Travis Kelce (38 catches, 335 yards, 1 touchdown), defensive tackle Chris Jones (3 sacks, 15 tackles).

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Quarterback Baker Mayfield (71.1% completion percentage, 2,189 yards, 21 touchdowns, 9 interceptions), tight end Cade Otton (36 catches, 344 yards, 3 touchdowns), linebacker Lavonte David (56 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 interception).

How to Watch Chiefs – Buccaneers

• Who: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• When: Monday, Nov. 4, 2024
• Time: 8:15 p.m. Eastern
• Where: Arrowhead Stadium | Kansas City, Missouri
• Channel: ESPN, ABC
• Best Streaming Options: Fubo (free trial), DirecTV Stream (free trial) and Sling (promotional offers).

Channel finder if you have cable

You can access the channel by using the channel finders online: Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum/Charter, Optimum/Altice, DIRECTV and Dish.

About FuboTV

Fubo (free trial) has three main packages: Pro costs $79.99/month; Elite is $89.99; Premier is priced at $99.99. Cancel before the free trial ends to avoid being charged. Fubo includes access to more than 185 sports, entertainment and news channels. You can record games, TV shows, movies and more.

About DirecTV Stream

DirecTV Stream, which also gives customers a free trial, offers four packages if you continue with the service after your trial ends: Entertainment for $69.99; Choice for $84.99; Ultimate for $109.99; and premier for $159.99. Choice offers the most channels for sports enthusiasts.

About Sling

Sling, which features promotional offers for new customers, has a Blue package for $20 for your first month ($40 after that) and an Orange package for the same price and deal. Get both the Blue and Orange packages for $27.50 for your first month ($55 after that).

For team hats, shirts and more gear: Visit Fanatics, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Lids, Champs Sports and New Era.

Information from the AP was included in this report and AI might have been used to assist with this story.

When Kansas opened up the exhibition portion of its schedule at Arkansas back on October, 25, the Jayhawks were without the services of Hunter Dickinson, Rylan Griffen, and Shakeel Moore. Bill Self’s squad fell to John Calipari and the Razorbacks, 85-69.

In returning home for its only exhibition game of the season, Kansas, on October 29, rolled past Washburn, 84-53. With Dickinson and Moore still sidelined with minor injuries, the Jayhawks were led by David Coit (19), Zeke Mayo (16), Griffen (14), and Flory Bidunga (10).

The No. 1 ranked team heading into the regular season, Kansas, will take the court against Howard on Monday night with a complete squad.

“I anticipate having a full squad,” said Kansas head coach Bill Self when addressing the media on Friday. “We have not limited reps since the game Tuesday with Hunt (Hunter Dickinson) and Shak (Shakeel Moore), even though that may be the case kind of moving forward, but we haven’t limited reps. So, yeah, unless something unforeseen happens, then we should be good.

“Rylan did fine getting through the game, and so this is the closest we’ve been to healthy, even though the timing’s off on two of them, but hopefully, by next week, we’ll be a little bit better,” he added.

A season ago, his first in Lawrence, Dickinson averaged 17.9 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. Offensively, he shot 55 percent from the field, 35.4 percent from behind the arc, and 62.4 percent from the free-throw line.

As high as the expectations were a season ago, those expectations might be even higher this season. For the second straight year, Kansas will enter the season as the No. 1 ranked team in college basketball. Furthermore, Dickinson will be the focal point on a team expected to compete for its third National Championship under Self.

Dickinson, at the end of the season, ultimately made the decision to remain in Lawrence to work on and improve different aspects of his game. On Friday morning, Self was asked if any of those improvements would be noticeable right away.

“I don’t think it’ll be obvious immediately until he gets his rhythm back because I do think conditioning and rhythm may be a little bit of a factor early on,” said Self. “But I think the biggest thing that you’ll see is, I don’t know if it’s a huge improvement, we’ll see a better passer just because of the way that we’re playing a little bit different than last year.”

What, if anything, did Dickinson focus on in terms of looking to improve during his time in Lawrence this offseason?

“I would say he continued to work on his athleticism, his body, and I think that what Hunt can do, I think Hunt has an unbelievable touch that if the ball gets on the rim sometimes it just has a tendency to fall in,” he added. “He’s got a soft touch. I don’t think he shot it near as well last year as what he’s capable of shooting it. I think early in the season he did, but I don’t think late in the season he did.

“And so just him to start maybe making some of the same shots that he didn’t make last year,” he added. “And I think a lot of that was legs too, because playing so many minutes.”

When it comes KU’s starting five against Howard on Monday night, Self wasn’t ready to tip his hat by announcing the starting lineup during his weekly press conference on Friday. However, it should come as no surprise that three players in particular were mentioned by Self.

“No, we haven’t decided yet,” said Self. “We haven’t decided yet, but I would say if health is good, you could make a case for Hunt. Juan (Dajuan Harris, Jr.) and KJ (KJ Harris, Jr.) starting, but we haven’t decided.