Kansas
Trust fall: Trump’s win or loss will further damage our elections • Kansas Reflector
The Rule said, “Don’t talk about politics at the dinner table.”
It wasn’t polite to mention deficit spending, because, well … The Rule. And not immigration. Or racism. Or abortion. Or inflation.
And according to The Rule, you certainly shouldn’t bring up the candidates. You weren’t to mention how you didn’t trust the Democrat, or how you didn’t agree with the Republican.
The Rule told us this talk was too divisive. Instead, just tell your dinner guests that you voted, because, even if we couldn’t agree on policy or candidates, we agreed to trust the elections.
How old-fashioned.
Today, merely mentioning the election — mail-in ballots, early voting, election fraud, poll workers — is just as likely to kick up a fight as a debate about the choice between Democrat or Republican, red or blue, pro-life or pro-choice.
At its core, the 2024 presidential election next week will shine a spotlight on our confidence in democratic election results. Will we trust the announced winners? A partisan divide on basic election logistics suggests that we could be in for a roiling debate, not just at our national dinner table, but here in Kansas as well.
A report on the political attitudes of Kansans published this week by the Docking Institute at Fort Hays State University surveyed hundreds of voters statewide.
It happily noted, “Respondents had high confidence with the election results in Kansas. About sixty percent (60.5%) of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they were confident that the reported winners of the elections in Kansas are actually the candidates that most Kansas voted for.”
Is 60.5% a number that should make us confident?
The fact that anyone reads this polling result as positive news is itself discouraging. To that same question, 10.4% said they disagree or strongly disagree. The same number said they “don’t know.”
This is not “high confidence” in elections. Those “disagree” and “don’t know” percentages, even if wildly off, represent tens of thousands of Kansans that might believe the wrong candidate — their candidate — unfairly lost.
How have those confidence percentages changed during the past few years? Not much. While it’s positive news that Kansans aren’t doubting their elections more each year, we might also worry that this doubt is becoming part of the political identity of Kansans.
Kansans are worried about problems that either don’t exist or problems so rare that they are difficult to document:
- 15.3% believe that illegal immigrants were voting in Kansas elections in large numbers.
- 11.6% believe that voter fraud routinely decides the winners of elections in Kansas.
- Sizeable numbers believed ballot drop boxes should be banned (23.5%) and vote by mail should be abolished (23%).
Call it Kansas election skepticism.
The scare-mongering of Kris Kobach might have successfully entrenched this anxiety about elections into Kansans. His deceptive hyperventilation about voter fraud played out in the courts, in his grasps for national office and in his run for governor. His constant squawks about voter fraud and election integrity may have nudged our statewide attitudes toward suspicion, along with Trump’s more recent shoves on the national stage.
How much is this a Kansas belief and how much is this a Republican belief? That’s difficult to tease out from the survey. All we can see is that 34.1% identified as some kind of “conservative,” while 23.5% identified somewhere along the range of “liberal.”
To answer this question, we need to check national partisan attitudes.
In a report issued last month, Gallup surveyed nationally on the issue of “votes cast by people who, by law, are not eligible to vote.” A wide majority of Republicans (74%) identified this as a “major problem,” while only 14% of Democrats saw it that way. Other surveys found similar partisan divides.
According to the Pew Research Center, Democrats (90%) are 33 percentage points more likely to forecast this election as being run and administered very or somewhat well than Republicans (57%). Trump supporters are less trusting than Harris supporters of election basics such as vote counting, poll workers and election officials. The divide on mail-in ballots is the widest: 85% of Harris supporters are confident in them as opposed to 38% of Trump supporters.
An area of skeptical overlap? Only 8% of all respondents to the Pew poll said they are highly confident in the Supreme Court’s neutrality, if it needed to issue an election decision (2% for Harris supporters; 14% for Trump supporters).
That kind of animosity — whether from one political party or both — toward the basic function of voting is an existential threat to democracy. As some of Trump’s advisers whispered to his deaf ear in 2020, it’s vital to American democracy that the loser trusts both the counts and the courts, and steps aside.
Clearly, Trump’s false claims about voting have fueled Republican doubts about elections. Look no further than Kansas Speaks: It didn’t start asking about election confidence until the 2022 fall survey, in the wake of Trump’s fraudulent clinging to office.
The Rule about dinner table politics was a domestic rule about courtesy. Respect the people who sit across the table from you — enough to not clutter the table with politics.
A Trump biographer and the new movie about Trump’s rise detail another version of The Rule. Along with two other tenets, Trump learned this lesson from the ruthless New York lawyer Roy Cohn. This version of The Rule? “Claim victory and never admit defeat.”
Trump’s dogged insistence that he won — that he always wins — is his personal version of what MIT election experts call the “loser’s regret phenomenon.”
Researchers with their Election Data + Science Lab have documented this effect over decades and across countries. When voters watch their preferred candidate lose, they express less confidence in the election process. Logically, there is a “winner’s effect,” calculated by tracking how much more confident people become in elections after their candidate wins.
When combined, these effects can be substantial. Simply put in one of their studies, “Winners are consistently more trusting of the vote count than losers.” In this way, the reaction of Trump and his followers was at once predictable and extreme, as they searched for votes in Georgia, waged losing court battles and ultimately stormed the Capitol.
Four days from the election, we are caught in a dilemma of election confidence. If voters elect Trump as president next week, he will have four more years in power to damage confidence in our elections. During his first term, he used the bully pulpit to cast doubt about voting machines, poll workers and election commissions. We should expect more of the same from a second Trump term. We should expect election confidence to slide, even with the winner’s effect. Republicans might be buoyed, but Democrats will doubt, with everyone soured by Trump’s deep distrust of elections.
Conversely, if Trump loses, he is likely to fight the election results. The Rule of “never admitting defeat” means a wave of loser’s regret, fueled by Trump’s childish insistence that he must win. His supporters are likely to feel that sting and doubt returns in upcoming elections.
Either way, Trump and his enablers have been and likely will continue to be an accelerant of election doubt, fueling unbounded and unfounded skepticism. Four years from now, political scientists likely will still be polling doubting Kansans who will be thinking of Trump’s lies and parroting them around the kitchen table to anyone who will listen — even if it ruins family dinner.
In this way and many others, the bonfires that Trump and his operatives lit within our elections will still be burning, regardless of who wins next week.
Eric Thomas teaches visual journalism and photojournalism at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Kansas in Lawrence. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (KCTV) – As Kansas lawmakers and the Chiefs held negotiations to get the team to leave Missouri, Lieutenant Governor David Toland led those conversations. He spoke to KCTV at the Kansas Department of Commerce office in Overland Park on Tuesday.
“We’re thrilled,” said Toland. “We’re so excited to be able to bring the Chiefs to Kansas, keep them in the Kansas City region, and to add an entirely new facility to the ecosystem of assets in Kansas City, which is a modern, domed facility that can host a Super Bowl, Final Fours, and big bowl games among many other things.”
Toland, who is also the state’s Secretary of Commerce, describes the last few days as a whirlwind, but a happy one, and they weren’t sure it was a done deal until around 2 p.m. on Sunday. He acknowledges the teamwork from state politicians in getting this done.
“This is a massive win,” said Toland. “It’s a massive project. We’re talking about a $4 billion project, 21,000 construction jobs, $4 billion in economic impact just during construction and then $1 billion a year in new revenues to Kansas. Our main message is one; this is a great deal for the taxpayers. Two, we’re going to be able to do things that we’ve never done before in Kansas and in Kansas City. Three, and most importantly, this is great for the Chiefs.”
The new stadium in Wyandotte County and team headquarters and practice facility in Johnson County, along with entertainment districts at both, are part of a new STAR Bond District. The Sales Tax and Revenue bonds, or STAR Bonds, will help finance this project. The cost of the projects will be split 60-40, with Kansas paying 60% and the Chiefs paying 40%.
“This is a project that pays for itself with new revenues and at no risk to the taxpayers,” said Toland. “It’s going to create new money that is not currently here. That sales tax from the district in that area is pledged to the STAR Bonds. The risk for those STAR Bonds is born by the people who buy those bonds, not by the taxpayers. That’s about 80% of the capitol stack for the project. The other 20% comes from the state’s Attracting Professional Sports to Kansas Fund, which comes from the lottery and from sports betting. You put those two pieces together and that’s how we’re able to accomplish a $4 billion deal for Kansas.”
There have been questions of the success rate of STAR Bonds for past projects. KCTV5 investigated the 25-year history of the program and found a mixed record: some projects paid off early, while others closed before the bonds were retired. Toland stands by them.
“STAR Bonds are a proven tool that we’ve been using for over 25 years in Kansas,” said Toland. “We’ve done huge projects with them, like the Kansas Speedway, and we’ve done smaller projects all over the state, like the Amelia Earhart Museum in Atchison, for example.
“This is a proven model. We’ve done them successfully and it’s a tool that’s particularly good on a large project like this. We’re going to have a STAR Bond District that’s very strong, and we know that this is going to be a win, not just for the Chiefs and the communities, but for the investors.”
With the plans for the new stadium to have a dome and an entertainment district, Toland says it can be used for much more than Chiefs’ games. He listed Super Bowl games, Final Four games, collegiate bowl games, and concerts, on top of hotels, restaurants, and more. He says this is a win for the whole metro.
“When you have a large-scale event like that, the impact is felt not just in Kansas, but across the region,” said Toland. “I think this is going to be, without question, a net positive for the Kansas City metro and that’s always been a goal of ours. We want a destination that’s going to be active, vibrant, and alive 365 days a year with people who live there and work there and come for restaurants and entertainment any night of the year. That’s a major part of how this project will differ from what’s currently at the Truman Sports Complex.”
The plan is to have the Chiefs in the new stadium by the start of the 2031-2032 season. Toland acknowledges the team leaving Arrowhead and Missouri is difficult for some fans.
“I’m an economic development professional,” said Toland. “I’ve been on both sides of winning deals and losing deals, and I know what it feels like both ways. I know this is tough for a lot of people in the region. I love Arrowhead as a venue. It’s an amazing place, but it’s time to go to the next level. That’s what we’re doing with this stadium project, with the headquarters and practice facility and these entertainment districts in Kansas. It’s making sure that the Chiefs remain best in class, that we’re growing the economy not just in Kansas but in the Kansas City metro, and we can have new opportunities to, among other things, finally realize Lamar Hunt Sr.’s dream of bringing a Super Bowl to Kansas City.”
When asked if he’s leading continued talks with the Royals, Toland declined to answer, saying they’re still focused on the Chiefs at this time.
For more stories on the latest stadium development news, click here.
Copyright 2025 KCTV. All rights reserved.
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Tre White and Flory Bidunga each had 18 points and eight rebounds as No. 17 Kansas used balanced scoring to beat Davidson 90-61 on Monday night.
Six players finished in double figures for the Jayhawks (10-3), including all five starters. Bryson Tiller added 11 points and Jamari McDowell scored 10. Melvin Council Jr. had 10 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Kohl Rosario provided 13 points off the bench as Kansas shot 58% from the field, including 11 for 21 (52%) on 3-pointers. The Jayhawks had 27 assists on 37 baskets and outrebounded Davidson 42-31. White nabbed four of the team’s 13 steals.
Roberts Blums was the only player in double figures for the Wildcats (8-4) with 13 points off the bench. Davidson was limited to 36% shooting from the floor and went 2 for 6 at the free-throw line.
Kansas played its second consecutive game without Darryn Peterson. The freshman star, who missed seven straight games earlier this season due to injury, is averaging 25 points in four games.
But the Jayhawks barely missed him.
Kansas led by 19 before Davidson went on a 10-2 run to trim it to 36-25. The Wildcats hit six straight shots during one stretch, though they never cut the deficit to single digits. When White hit his fourth 3 of the first half, the lead was back up to 46-26.
Kansas went to the locker room with a 51-30 cushion. The Jayhawks were led by White’s 16 points. Bidunga and Council each had 10.
The second half didn’t start much better for Davidson, as the Wildcats were outscored 7-2 in the first 2:51, leading coach Matt McKillup to exhaust his timeouts with 17:09 left.
Kansas wasted no time distancing itself from the overmatched Wildcats. When Bidunga threw down an alley-oop dunk with 13:03 left in the opening half, the Jayhawks already had stretched the lead to 17-6. Davidson didn’t reach double figures until 10:36 remained in the first half.
Up next
Davidson hosts Duquesne on Dec. 30.
Kansas is off until starting Big 12 play Jan. 3 at UCF.
The NFL’s Christmas Day lineup is lacking serious holiday magic this year
Christmas Day 2025 is already looking like a bust for the NFL due to injuries and teams already eliminated from playoff contention.
The Kansas City Chiefs are expected to receive the green light to build a new stadium in Kansas, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports, with the official announcement expected later Dec. 22 following a meeting of a key legislative committee.
The person was granted anonymity because the news was not yet official.
The eight-person Legislative Coordinating Council (LCC) will vote later Dec. 22, with Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly teasing a “special announcement” for Dec. 22 as well.
The Chiefs have been negotiating with both the governments of Missouri and Kansas regarding their future home. Kansas City has played its home games at Arrowhead Stadium, located on the outskirts of Kansas City, Missouri, since 1972.
The exact location of the new stadium is unknown but the land will be in Wyandotte County, not far from the Kansas Speedway and where Major League Soccer’s Sporting KC is headquartered. The new stadium will be ready for the 2031 season since the team’s current lease at Arrowhead Stadium expires after 2030.
The venue will have a roof to make it a year-round hosting site, with designs on the stadium hosting the biggest events in sports, such as the Final Four or Super Bowl.
According to the Kansas City Star, the state will provide up to 70% of the funding for the stadium. The projected total price tag of the project is $3 billion.
The Chiefs are also moving their training facility to Olathe, Kansas – another suburb of Kansas City. That project does not currently have a timeline.
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