Johnson County certifies election. Kansas Republicans hold supermajority, but Democrats gain
Republicans will hold an 85 to 40 majority in the Kansas House, but Democrats will hold 16 of Johnson County’s 27 seats after the Johnson County Board of Canvassers officially certified the county’s 2022 midterm results.
A total of 263,543 ballots were cast and counted in Johnson County for a turnout rate of 56.9% in Kansas’ most populous county.
Until the county election board finalized results Thursday, two Kansas legislative races remained too close to call.
Kansas House District 28 in Leawood and Kansas House District 15 in Olathe were both decided by fewer than 100 votes. Final determination of the winners in both races came down to provisional ballots counted in the official canvass this week.
Democrat Allison Hougland ultimately beat Republican state Rep. Matt Bingesser by 78 votes. Republican Rep. Carl Turner beat his Democratic challenger, Ace Allen, by 60 votes.
Reached over the phone after the canvass, Allen said he had not yet ruled out requesting a recount in the race. The deadline for recount requests statewide is 5 p.m. Friday.
The results did not impact whether the GOP held a veto-proof majority in the House, but Turner’s victory gives Republicans one additional vote to spare in override fights against Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
Though Republicans ultimately maintained their supermajority, Democrats were optimistic about the Johnson County results.
The party successfully flipped three Republican-held districts and moved the Johnson County delegation from majority Republican to majority Democratic.
“If we can continue to gain three seats in Johnson County every two years, that’s pretty good,” said Kansas House Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat.
Democrats had campaigned on abortion, using momentum from August’s vote upholding abortion rights to persuade voters to reject Republicans who supported limits on access.
The party’s candidates argued that, despite the vote, Republicans in the Legislature would continue to push anti-abortion legislation.
In response, Republicans largely focused on other issues. Turner, who won his race by just 60 votes, was one of many Republicans who stripped or changed language about being anti-abortion from his campaign website in the wake of the vote.
Republican candidates instead focused on economic issues including inflation and taxes. In an interview with The Star last month Turner said he believed Kansans were comfortable with existing laws.
