Kansas Democrats show up to cast votes early, more Republicans stay home

TOPEKA — More Kansans cast their ballots in early voting than in the previous midterm election, and Democrats turned out in larger numbers than in the past, an organization that tracks state voter numbers reported Monday. 

Early in-person voting stopped at noon on Monday, although mail-in ballots will be counted as long as they are postmarked by Tuesday and arrive by Friday. 

Kansas drew nearly 33% more early voters than in previous midterm elections, with 470,313 ballots cast ahead of election day this year versus 353,165 in November 2022, reported IKE Lab at Wichita State University.   

Of those early voters, 40.8% were Democrats, 43.3% were Republicans, and 15.3% were independent. 

Democrats turned out in higher numbers this year then in 2022, but fewer Republicans showed up for early voting. 

Pundits have suggested that rising diesel prices, financial stress from tariffs and President Donald Trump’s plummeting approval in Kansas might encourage Republicans to just stay home. 

Republican Ty Masterson, who is up against Democrat Cindy Holscher in the governor’s race, pushed for Republicans to get out and vote for the party’s sake. 

On Sunday, speaking at a rally that featured Trump, Masterson told Republican voters to vote their ticket, even if they have “some disillusionment” with the party. 

“Don’t go off and waste your vote and vote for some third-party person,” he said. “It is a vote for socialism as much as it is a vote for that Democrat, and that has proven to be true over history.” 

Masterson also told people to get their Republican friends and family to vote and to focus on the men who for “some reason” have a harder time getting out to vote. 

IKE statistics also supported that idea, showing that nearly 55% of early voters were women while nearly 45% were men.