Kansas City’s police department is the only one in Missouri controlled by the state, an arrangement with a fraught history. A statewide vote in November 2022 required Kansas City to increase its funding of police to 25% of the city budget. KC officials opposed the vote.
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Kansas City voters experienced some wins and some losses Tuesday night. The election results reflected the statewide voters of Kansas and Missouri — but vote totals show that those in the Kansas City area didn’t always agree with the outcomes for the entire states.
Here’s where Kansas City area voters stood on a handful of key midterm races, according to unofficial results reported by each election board. The percentage given in each case is the winning outcome in that particular county.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly speaks to supporters at an election night. Charlie Riedel AP
Kansas Governor
Johnson County: 58.8% of voters supported incumbent Democrat Laura Kelly.
Wyandotte County: 67.6% of voters supported incumbent Democrat Laura Kelly.
Kelly won reelection with an overall 49.2% of the vote. It was a victory that some have credited to her “middle of the road” messaging and focus on education and budget issues, which has won her the support of prominent Kansas Republicans. Read more about the close race for Kansas governor here.
Kansas 3rd District Rep. Sharice Davids greets a crowd of supporters to give her victory speech at the Sheraton Hotel in Overland Park after defeating challenger Amanda Adkins in the midterm election Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022. Chris Ochsner cochsner@kcstar.com
Kansas 3rd District - U.S. House of Representatives
Johnson County: 56.6% of voters supported incumbent Democrat Sharice Davids.
Wyandotte County: 59.9% of voters supported incumbent Democrat Sharice Davids.
Davids won reelection with an overall 54.7% of the vote, despite Kansas’ redistricting earlier in the year that split her progressive Wyandotte County base between two new districts. Despite the steeper path to victory, Davids won by a bigger margin Tuesday than she did in 2020. Read more about her victory here.
Kris Kobach, the Republican nominee for Kansas attorney general, talks to the media before a GOP watch party on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022, in Topeka, Kansas. Tammy Ljungblad tljungblad@kcstar.com
Kansas Attorney General
Johnson County: 59.7% of voters supported Democrat Chris Mann.
Wyandotte County: 68.7% of voters supported Democrat Chris Mann.
Kris Kobach ultimately defeated Mann with an overall 51.2% of the vote. That puts Johnson and Wyandotte Counties strongly at odds with the statewide outcome. Read more about Kobach’s victory here.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt acknowledges the crowd of supporters at his election night watch party in St. Louis after winning the GOP primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022 Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com
Missouri U.S. Senator
Kansas City: 79.02% of voters supported Democrat Trudy Busch Valentine.
Jackson County (outside of KC): 49.31% of voters supported Republican Eric Schmitt.
Clay County: 49.43% of voters supported Republican Eric Schmitt.
Platte County: 49.40% of voters supported Republican Eric Schmitt.
Cass County: 62.36% of voters supported Republican Eric Schmitt.
Schmitt won with 55.5% of the vote overall– an outcome that aligned narrowly with most of the counties in the Kansas City area. Voters within the purview of the Kansas City Election Board were the only ones in the metro who strongly favored Valentine, his opponent. Read more about his victory here.
Supporters of legal recreational marijuana in Missouri, gathered at Tasso’s Greek Restaurant, 8411 Wornall Road, Kansas City for a local election night watch party. Susan Pfannmuller Special to The Star
Missouri marijuana amendment
Kansas City: 77.83% of voters supported legalizing marijuana.
Jackson County: 60.76% of voters supported legalizing marijuana.
Clay County: 61.36% of voters supported legalizing marijuana.
Platte County: 62.34% of voters supported legalizing marijuana.
Cass County: 53.71% of voters supported legalizing marijuana.
Amendment 3 passed with 53.1% of the vote. In general, Kansas City area voters were more strongly in favor of the measure than the state overall. Learn more about what this outcome means here.
Kansas City will need to dedicate 25% of its revenue to KCPD. Tammy Ljungblad Star file photo
Missouri police funding amendment
Kansas City: 61.38% of voters opposed letting the state increase the minimum KCPD funding.
Jackson County: 65.39% of voters supported letting the state increase the minimum KCPD funding.
Clay County: 64.78% of voters supported letting the state increase the minimum KCPD funding.
Platte County: 64.83% of voters supported letting the state increase the minimum KCPD funding.
Cass County: 69.76% of voters supported letting the state increase the minimum KCPD funding.
Amendment 4 passed with 63.2% of the vote. The counties around Kansas City supported the measure, despite the fact that the amendment will only impact Kansas City’s police department. Voters within Kansas City south of the Missouri River strongly opposed the measure. Learn more about what this outcome means here.
Do you have more questions about the results of Tuesday’s election in Kansas City? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
This story was originally published November 9, 2022 at 4:54 PM.
Natalie Wallington was a reporter on The Star’s service journalism team with a focus on policy, labor, sustainability and local utilities from fall 2021 until early 2025. Her coverage of the region’s recycling system won a 2024 Feature Writing award from the Kansas Press Association.
Kansas City’s police department is the only one in Missouri controlled by the state, an arrangement with a fraught history. A statewide vote in November 2022 required Kansas City to increase its funding of police to 25% of the city budget. KC officials opposed the vote.
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