GOP candidates for Kansas State Board of Education advance in three contested primary races

TOPEKA — Unofficial GOP primary results as of Wednesday morning place an attorney, a retired superintendent and a former Kansas Board of Education member one step closer to overseeing K-12 public schools.

While Republicans Jim McMullen, Destry Brown and Jean Clifford consider next steps ahead of the November general election, their primary opponents reflect on their campaigns.

Seven Republican candidates appeared on the Kansas primary ballot on Aug. 4 across three district races. For two other seats, the Republican candidate was uncontested. No Democrats faced a primary opponent.

The primary results set the state for a Republican and Democrat to face off in November for each of the five open seats.

Kansas voters reelect five of 10 education board seats every two years. This year, none of the incumbents chose to seek reelection. Because most members whose terms won’t end until 2028 are Democrats, the November election could flip the board’s GOP majority.

Eastern district

In the race to represent most of Johnson and Miami counties on the state board, McMullen, an attorney and former Blue Valley school district board member from Johnson County, prevailed with 64% of votes and all precincts reporting.

“I’ve been beating the same drum for five years,” McMullen said. “When I was on the Blue Valley school board, at least the Republican voters, they know I’m not really a mystery.”

His core message, he said, is promoting “foundational” education, a view he plans to continue campaigning on.

“That foundational purpose is to develop students to be great speakers, to be great readers and to be great writers,” he said.

He will face Amy Diediker, an Olathe Democrat and former teacher, in November.

The 1776 Project PAC, a conservative organization promoting state and school board candidates in multiple states, endorsed McMullen and opponents of Brown and Clifford.

His primary opponent, Steve Roberts, a former math teacher and state board member and current driver for Uber and Lyft, called the 1776 Project PAC’s endorsement of McMullen decisive.

“The lesson I think I’m taking away,” Roberts said, “is that money is the No. 1 factor in winning elections these days.”

Roberts has lost bids for state treasurer, Congress and the Blue Valley school district board within the last four years. He said his career in politics is over and plans to retire to the classroom as a teacher.

Both candidates have received criticism over controversial speech. Roberts used the N-word in a state board meeting in April 2013, and the Blue Valley school board in 2022 stripped McMullen’s vice president title over his social media posts against transgender advocacy. He lost reelection in 2025.

Southeastern district

Brown, the former Fort Scott school district superintendent, received 43% of votes to represent the southeast corner of Kansas on the state board. Behind him, Kristian Gerken, a Paola school board member endorsed by the 1776 Project PAC, took 36%. Renee Slinkard, a retired teacher, received 21%.

Brown said his concern with empowering local control resonated with voters. He wants to take that message to the northern part of his district.

“​​It’s kind of hard to decide what is the best strategy,” he said. “But I’ve had a lot of volunteers helping me down here in southeast Kansas, and I need to work on getting more people involved in the north.”

He will challenge Heather Guernsey, a Chanute Democrat, in November.

Slinkard hoped to involve parents in education more and promote patriotic curricula. She did not respond to a phone call and text message Tuesday night from Kansas Reflector requesting comment.

Gerken did not reply to emails and Facebook messages on July 13 and Tuesday night from Kansas Reflector requesting comment.

Western district

After a close race all Tuesday night, the district on Wednesday morning reported 51% for Clifford, a former state board member, retired Air Force attorney and Garden City resident, and 49% for Kelly Ancar, a nurse and nursing instructor from Hays.

Though only 772 votes determined Clifford as the likely winner, with all precincts reporting, the margin doesn’t demand a close-race audit or recount under the state’s standards.

Clifford’s campaign focused on improving local control, particularly in her district, the most rural and geographically largest state board district.

“I am grateful for the unofficial results from yesterday’s Republican primary and honored by the confidence the voters of District 5 have placed in me,” she said in an email.

Ancar said parents responded to her views on increasing parental involvement and teachers supported her plan for addressing behavioral problems in the classroom.

“I talked to a lot of teachers who shared that dealing with behaviors in the classroom was their No. 1 problem,” she said. “Some other states have gone to a three-strike rule, where if you have to remove a child from the classroom three times, there needs to be an alternative plan put in place.”

Clifford will face Lorie Wood, a Dresden Democrat and former teacher.