Kansas Democrats, Republicans firm up teams for statewide office contests

TOPEKA — Primary election results brought few surprises for statewide offices as most candidates ran unopposed.

The lone exception was a skirmish between Democrats Jennifer Day and Samuel Lane. Day took a decisive lead as election results rolled in and the Associated Press declared her the race’s winner by 8:25 p.m. Tuesday. The Mission businesswoman, who received Gov. Laura Kelly’s endorsement, will face Republican Pat Proctor of Leavenworth in the general election.

Proctor ran unopposed. A retired U.S. Army colonel, Proctor was elected to the House in 2020. He is among the Legislature’s advocates for election legislation, supporting President Donald Trump’s false claims about his 2020 loss to Joe Biden.

“Our elections belong to the people, not to any political party,” Day said in a news release after her win. “Kansans deserve a Secretary of State who will protect the integrity of our elections, support the professionals who administer them, and make decisions based on what is best for voters across our state.”

Also on the ticket in November will be Scott Morgan of Lawrence, who is running as a member of United Kansas, a new moderate political party espousing problem-solving over partisanship. Morgan is a fifth-generation Kansan who grew up in Shawnee and received degrees in journalism and law from the University of Kansas.

Insurance commissioner

Two experienced Kansas politicians will face off in the general election for insurance commissioner after both ran unopposed in the primary. 

Sen. Dinah Sykes, Lenexa, who has been in the Kansas Senate since 2017 and the Senate minority leader since 2021, will run for the Democrats. She was a Republican when entering politics but switched to the Democratic Party in December 2018.  

Sykes will face Rep. Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, who has been in the Kansas House since 2013 and House speaker since 2023. 

Libertarian candidate Ric Koehn is on the ticket for insurance commissioner, but there has been little activity from his campaign. 

State treasurer

Democratic and Republican candidates for state treasurer ran unopposed in the primary. Juan C. Luengo, Olathe, will receive the Democrat nomination. He is the CEO of Engage Insurance Group and has worked in the private business sector throughout his career. 

On his website, he touts that he led Engage through a turnaround and says  the the state treasurer will need such skills.

Luengo will face incumbent Steve Johnson, an experienced politician who served in the state legislature from 2011 to 2023 before being elected state treasurer in 2022. Johnson was born and raised on a cattle and grain farm and has a background in ag economics. 

Attorney general

Democrat Chris Mann and Attorney General Kris Kobach will fight for the state’s top legal position in the general election, as each ran unopposed in Tuesday’s primary. 

Mann, an attorney, has a passion for representing drunk driving victims after he was seriously injured in his early 20s by a drunk driver. He was a prosecutor in the Wyandotte County District Attorney’s Office and also worked for the Kansas Securities Commission. 

Mann will face Kobach, who has made a name for himself nationally as a hardliner on immigration and a proponent of making significant changes to keep the election system safe. Kobach has been Kansas attorney general since 2023, and he served as secretary of state from 2011 to 2019.