Kansas 2020 Election Results

Kansas held its general election on November 3, 2020, deciding 165 legislative seats. No chamber changed party control.

Highlights

• Republicans kept two-thirds majorities in both chambers, so Democrats fell short of breaking the supermajority that lets the GOP override Gov. Laura Kelly (D). The stakes included redistricting: the Legislature elected here would draw the post-2020-census maps, and a united Republican caucus could override any Kelly veto of them.
• Democrats' biggest single loss came when Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley (D), the longest-serving lawmaker in state history, lost Senate District 19 to Rick Kloos (R) by about 2 points. The Senate's partisan split still did not change. Republicans flipped two seats, Hensley's and Senate District 18, where Kristen O'Shea (R) won, while Democrats flipped two of their own: Jeff Pittman (D) in Senate District 5 and Cindy Holscher (D) in Senate District 8.
• In the House, Republicans flipped four Democratic seats, unseating Reps. Monica Murnan (D) in House District 3, Tim Hodge (D) in House District 72 and Stephanie Yeager (D) in House District 96, and winning the open House District 41. Democrats answered with two pickups: Mari-Lynn Poskin (D) flipped a Johnson County seat in House District 20, and Jo Ella Hoye (D) won House District 17.
• Wichita's House District 86 elected Stephanie Byers (D), a retired band teacher who became the first transgender member of the Kansas Legislature and one of three Native women in the incoming Statehouse, defeating Cyndi Howerton (R) by about 11 points.
• In Kansas City's House District 37, Aaron Coleman (D), who had admitted to bullying and threatening girls online at 14, won after beating seven-term incumbent Stan Frownfelter in the August primary. The state Democratic Party backed a write-in campaign for Frownfelter, but Coleman won about two-thirds of the vote.
• In all, 10 seats changed party. Two more incumbents lost in November as write-in candidates after losing their August primaries: Frownfelter and Rep. Jim Karleskint (R), who drew under 3% against Lance Neelly (R) in House District 42. Another 3 races finished inside two points, all of them narrow Democratic House holds, including Jason Probst (D) in House District 102, and 54 seats had no candidate from one of the two major parties.

Legislature

• House (125 seats): 41 D, 84 R before the election, 38 D, 87 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
• Senate (40 seats): 11 D, 29 R before the election, 11 D, 29 R after; control stayed with Republicans.

Legislative races