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Temperament Over Turmoil: Kansas Voters Choose Steady Leadership
Kansas voters chose steadiness over spectacle at the polls. Also: Republicans backed off a special session on redistricting, saving that fight for January.
Jason Anderson
November 05, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes
You can get with this, or you can get with that
I think you’ll get with this ’cause this is where it’s at
The Choice Is Yours, Black Sheep
Table of Contents
The 2026 Elections Start Now
Long-time subscribers may have noticed that Capitol Bee has been quieter than usual the past couple of months. Part of that was intentional: we’re conserving energy for next year’s critical election cycle, with strategic races in play. It’s also been about preparation.
During the 2025 Kansas legislative session, we introduced the pilot of BillBee.ai as a resource for tracking and understanding the goings-on of the state legislature. We learned a ton, but more importantly we’ve been continuing to learn more about what sorts of tools will be useful. With only 10 weeks until the start of the 2026 legislative session, we’re putting the finishing touches on “BillBee 2.0.”
Next year, you’ll be able to:
Track specific bills and receive real-time notifications on their actions
Build personal profiles of the issues that matter most to you, and automatically search and filter for activities of greatest importance
Leverage even-smarter AI tools to understand bills, legislators, and more
Track committee testimony, calendars, and activities
(Have other ideas or needs? Or are you involved with an organization that would like to work together more closely? Let us know!)
Kansas 2025 Election Results Excerpts
Kansas voters on November 4 elected new mayors in four major cities, rejected a school bond in Hutchinson, and preserved Prairie Village's traditional government structure—all while Republican legislative leaders abandoned their controversial redistricting push. The elections produced decisive victories across the state with incumbent Curt Skoog in Overland Park easily winning reelection, while Christal Watson made history as Kansas City, Kansas's first Black female mayor, winning 54% to 46% over Rose Mulvany Henry.
Overland Park mayor: Skoog cruises to second term
Verified Results (Unofficial)
Curt Skoog (incumbent): 26,377 votes (70.6%)
Faris Farassati: 10,899 votes (29.2%)
Write-in: 71 votes (0.2%)
Total votes cast: 37,347
Skoog secured reelection with a commanding margin, winning his second four-year term against Farassati, a former City Councilmember making his second unsuccessful challenge against Skoog (Farassati also lost to Skoog in the 2021 primary). The race centered on development incentives and a potential Kansas City Royals stadium at the Aspiria campus. Skoog supported regional partnerships for the stadium discussions and backed the 2023 infrastructure sales tax increase, while Farassati opposed taxpayer incentives and the Royals project.
Prairie Village voters overwhelmingly reject government restructuring
Verified Results (Unofficial)
Question: "Shall the City of Prairie Village, Kansas abandon the mayor-council form of government?"
No (keep current form): 5,690 votes (65.1%)
Yes (abandon current form): 3,051 votes (34.9%)
Total votes cast: 8,741
The ballot question failed by nearly 2-to-1, preserving Prairie Village's 74-year-old mayor-council structure used by 554 of Kansas's 625 cities. The petition originated from "Prairie Village United" following 2022-2023 controversies over workforce housing rezoning and a $30 million city hall project. Johnson County District Court ruled only the "abandon" petition met statutory requirements; Kansas Supreme Court declined review in June 2025, clearing the November ballot.
A "yes" vote would not have immediately changed government structure but required subsequent adoption of a new form. All six City Council candidates who opposed the question won their races with double-digit margins, signaling broader rejection of the restructuring agenda.
Christal Watson makes history in Kansas City, Kansas
Verified Results (Unofficial, Wyandotte County)
Christal Watson: 9,465 votes (54%)
Rose Mulvany Henry: 8,050 votes (46%)
Watson becomes Kansas City, Kansas's first Black female mayor and the first woman in the position in 20 years. She will be sworn in December 15, 2025, succeeding Mayor Tyrone Garner, who declined reelection. The two candidates advanced from an August primary that eliminated four others. Watson, Executive Director of the Kansas City, Kansas School Foundation for Excellence and former Deputy Chief of Staff to Mayor David Alvey, campaigned on equitable growth and implementing a 1% earnings tax (projected $50 million revenue). Notably, Watson received no labor union endorsements while Henry secured nearly all union support.
Topeka's Spencer Duncan wins landslide mayor victory
Verified Results (Shawnee County Election Office)
Spencer Duncan: 12,723 votes (75.6%)
Henry McClure: 4,111 votes (24.4%)
Duncan, a current Topeka City Council member since 2018, won a decisive victory over McClure, who received just 14.3% in the August 5 primary. Duncan serves as Government Affairs Director for the League of Kansas Municipalities and previously worked as Deputy Mayor in 2022. He replaces Mayor Mike Padilla, who announced February 25, 2025 he would not seek reelection.
Duncan's four-year term begins January 2026. His platform emphasized public safety, property tax reduction, infrastructure improvements, government transparency, housing enforcement, and constituent services. Duncan holds an MBA, worked five years at Topeka Capital-Journal, and authored "Historic Shawnee County: A History of Topeka and Shawnee County."
Wichita City Council: Two incumbents hold seats, one newcomer elected
Verified Results (Sedgwick County Election Office, Updated Final)
District 1 (Open Seat - Brandon Johnson term-limited)
Joseph Shepard: 3,343 votes (59.3%)
LaWanda DeShazer: 2,295 votes (40.7%)
District 3 (Incumbent race)
Mike Hoheisel (incumbent): 1,710 votes (60.6%)
Genevieve Howerton: 1,140 votes (39.4%)
Howerton, at 24, was the youngest candidate on a Wichita ballot this cycle.
District 6 (Incumbent race)
Maggie M. Ballard (incumbent): 3,717 votes (64.7%)
Brett Anderson: 1,878 votes (32.7%)
Margaret (Wheeler) Shabazz: 446 votes (7.8%)
Districts 1, 3, and 6 were the only council seats contested. Sedgwick County turnout reached just 11.57% (37,657 of 325,356 registered voters). Results remain unofficial pending November 13 certification.
Reno County voters decisively reject school bond
Verified Results (Unofficial, Reno County Election Office)
No: 3,683 votes (74.6%)
Yes: 1,253 votes (25.4%)
The USD 308 (Hutchinson) bond issue sought $109,530,000 to construct a new 6-8 grade middle school, repurpose the existing middle school into an Early Learning Center, improve elementary facilities with safety upgrades and storm shelters, relocate baseball and soccer fields, and make other district improvements. The ballot question explicitly outlined seven funding categories including construction costs and bond issuance expenses.
Voters rejected the proposal by nearly 3-to-1.
Kansas GOP redistricting special session collapses
Republican legislative leaders' unprecedented attempt to force a November special session on congressional redistricting collapsed on November 4, 2025, when House Speaker Dan Hawkins announced insufficient House support despite Senate President Ty Masterson securing the necessary Senate signatures one week earlier.
Following the collapse of the special session effort, Masterson responded: "President Trump asked Republicans to fight for fair maps and for America's future. We did our part — and we'll keep leading the charge here in Kansas." He confirmed redistricting would be "a top priority" when the regular session begins January 2026.
Background: Kansas redistricting controversy
The failed special session would have targeted Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids' 3rd Congressional District—Kansas's only Democratic congressional seat. Republicans sought mid-decade redistricting (Kansas hasn't done this since 1965) to achieve a 4-0 GOP sweep of the state's congressional delegation ahead of 2026 midterms.
The Strategy: Split Johnson County—Kansas's most populous county with approximately 635,000 residents and a $58 billion annual economy—into two or three congressional districts to dilute moderate and Democratic voting power. Johnson County has trended Democratic, with Gov. Laura Kelly winning 59% there in 2022 and Biden carrying it with 53% in 2020.
Current District: The 3rd District includes all of Johnson County, southern Wyandotte County, and Anderson, Franklin, and Miami counties. Davids has represented the seat since 2019 and won reelection in 2024 by 11 points despite 2022 Republican redistricting designed to weaken her hold.
Legal History: In 2022, Kansas Legislature passed congressional maps (Ad Astra 2) splitting Wyandotte County and moving liberal Lawrence to the rural 1st District. Gov. Kelly vetoed; the Legislature overrode. District Judge Bill Klapper struck down the maps in April 2022, finding "overwhelming" evidence of political and racial gerrymandering—the first time a Kansas court invalidated congressional redistricting. The Kansas Supreme Court reversed in a 4-3 decision (June 21, 2022), ruling partisan gerrymandering is nonjusticiable without clear statutory standards and that plaintiffs failed to prove race was the "predominant factor." The U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari March 27, 2023.
Opposition: Several Republican lawmakers opposed the 2025 effort on principle. Rep. Mark Schreiber (R-Emporia) refused to sign, stating: "I've not heard a good reason yet to go back and redistrict. What we're doing now is playing with the rules of the game." Sens. Mike Thompson (R-Shawnee) and Brenda Dietrich (R-Topeka) expressed concerns about unintended consequences, including potentially making Republican-held seats more competitive. Johnson County business leaders warned splitting the county could harm regional economic interests and constituent representation.
Context: Kansas operates under mayor-council governance like Prairie Village, has competitive suburban politics reflected in the Overland Park race, and faces ongoing tensions between urban/suburban growth areas and rural Republican strongholds—dynamics central to the redistricting debate. This would have been only the second time in Kansas's 164-year history that lawmakers bypassed the governor for a special session (the first was 2021 for COVID-19 vaccine mandate challenges).
Looking Forward
Kansas voters just reminded everyone that steady, competent governance still wins. Tuesday’s results weren’t a partisan surge so much as a civic correction — a signal that Kansans prefer building over brawling, from city halls to the Statehouse. The redistricting drama will return in January, but it’ll do so in a landscape newly shaped by voters who chose focus and function. For all the talk of division, Kansas again showed its capacity for discernment and chose leaders who listen.
In the coming weeks, we’ll pivot toward the how: the practical side of tracking bills, understanding committees, and making state government legible. It’s time for us to sharpen our tools before the next session; the work ahead is to turn that voter appetite for steadiness into smarter civic engagement when lawmakers return to Topeka.