Kansas Primaries: Kelly-Schmidt Governor Race, Davids-Adkins CD 3 Clash Set for November

The ‘Value Them Both’ abortion ballot proposition was the dominant issue on Kansas’ otherwise bland Aug. 2 primary ballot, which offered few competitive inter-party races but cleared the decks for several compelling clashes in fall’s general election.

Most notable among the general election contests is the already underway toss-up brawl between incumbent Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and her Republican challenger, Kansas attorney general Derek Schmidt.

Both blew past nominal opposition in slam-dunk Aug. 2 primary victories and have millions to spend in what is projected to be among the nation’s most compelling governor elections of the 2022 midterms.

The Kelly-Schmidt race is one of 36 gubernatorial elections nationwide this fall. Kelly is among 22 Democratic governors seeking re-election but the only trying to do so in a state that former President Donald Trump won in 2020, garnering 56 percent of the vote.

Kelly and incumbent Lt. Gov. David Toland, who also serves as Kansas secretary of commerce, easily cruised past former Republican and “anti-abortion Democrat” Richard Karnowski of Seneca and his Lt. Gov. hopeful, Barry Franco, in their Democratic primary. 

Schmidt and his Lt. Gov nominee, Katie Sawyer, a senior staffer for Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas), likewise had little trouble dispatching by Arlyn Briggs, a Kincaid farmer and trucker, and his Lt. Gov. running mate, Lance Berland, in their GOP primary.

The Kelly-Schmidt governor’s race is rated a “toss-up” election by the Cook Political Report, Inside Elections with Nathan Gonzales, and Larry Sabato’s Crystal Ball.

Kelly served 14 years in the state Senate, including as assistant minority leader and as minority whip, after a 16-year stint as Kansas Recreation and Park Association executive director. In the 2018 gubernatorial race, she defeated former Kansas Secretary of  State Kris Kobach by 5 percentage points.

Kelly’s campaign reported to the Kansas Secretary of State Office’s

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