Making the calls

It’s getting close to bedtime, so it’s time to call the races:

• US Senate: Sam Brownback, Republican


• US House, District 1: Jerry Moran, Republican


• US House, District 2: Jim Ryun, Republican (55-43 with 53% reporting)


• US House, District 3: Dennis Moore, Democrat


• US House, District 4: Todd Tiahrt, Republican

So, all Kansas incumbents will retain their federal seats. My county has not reported its results yet, so I won’t know until tomorrow who won my district’s state legislator seats.


I’d like to thank The Command Post for this opportunity to shine a light where Big Media doesn’t often point its cameras.

[Cross-posted to evolution.]

New House race numbers - Ryun, Moore pulling away

Jim Ryun is pulling away in the Kansas 2nd. New House race numbers, courtesy of KAKE-TV (Wichita):

U.S. House District 2
34% Reporting
Nancy Boyda (D) 54,248 (44%)
Jim Ryun ® 74,291 (56%)

U.S. House District 3
93% Precincts Reporting
Kris Kobach ® 130,651 (46%)
Dennis Moore (D) 151,208 (54%)

Rep. Jerry Moran (R-District 1) and Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-District 4) are cruising to re-election. It appears that Kansas will send Moore back for a fourth term as well.

[Cross-posted to evolution.]

Two House seats still in doubt

There are still two Congressional races in Kansas that are still in doubt. AP is reporting that in the Kansas 2nd District, Jim Ryun has opened up a 52-45 lead over Democratic challenger Nancy Boyda, with 24% of precincts reporting. In the 3rd district, Dennis Moore has opened up a 56-43 lead over Republican challenger Kris Kobach.

[Cross-posted to evolution.]

New numbers in on Senate and House races

Some new numbers, from KAKE-TV in Wichita:

U.S. Senate
61% Precincts Reporting
Sam Brownback ® 82,545 (66%) — projected winner
Lee Jones (D) 42,388 (35%)

U.S. House, District 1
20% Precincts Reporting
Jack Warner (D) 862 (10%)
Jerry Moran ® 7,749 (90%) — projected winner

U.S. House District 2
34% Reporting
Nancy Boyda (D) 10,933 (49%)
Jim Ryun ® 11,589 (51%)

U.S. House District 3
1% Precincts Reporting
Kris Kobach ® 44,312 (46%)
Dennis Moore (D) 51,320 (54%)

U.S. House District 4
1% Precincts Reporting
MIchael Kinard (D) 2,734 (33%)
Todd Tiahrt ® 6,143 (69%)

It appears that Reps. Moran and Tiahrt and Sen. Brownback will retain their seat. The other two races are too close to call, although Rep. Ryun has taken the lead now over Democrat Nancy Boyda.

[Cross-posted to evolution.]

US Senate: Brownback wins

AP has projected that Republican Sen. Sam Brownback will retain his seat, defeating Democrat Lee Jones and two third-party challengers. With 1% of precincts reporting, Brownback leads 64-33.

Also, 2nd District Rep. Jim Ryun has closed challenger Nancy Boyda’s lead to 2 points, 50-48.

[Cross-posted with opinion/analysis to evolution.]

New numbers in; MSNBC calls KS for Bush

MSNBC has called Kansas for Bush; he leads Kerry here 59-41. Votes are still being counted in the Senate and Congressional races. Numbers as reported by KSNT-TV Topeka, with 1% of precincts reporting:

• Senate: Brownback leads Jones 65-35


• House 1: Moran leads Warner 90-10


• House 2: Boyda leads Ryun 52-48


• House 3: Moore leads Kobach 53-47


• House 4: Tiahrt leads Kinard 68-31

[Cross-posted to evolution.]

First numbers in Kansas

The first numbers in Kansas, as seen on KAKE-TV’s (Wichita) news/weather affiliate Kansas Now 22: US President — Bush with a slim lead, US Senate — Brownback leads Democrat Lee Jones 65-35. US House races: District 1 — Moran leads 92-8, District 2 — Boyda (Dem) leads Ryun (Rep) 52-48, District 3 — Moore (Dem) leads Kobach (Rep) 54-46, District 4 — Tiahrt leads 66-34.

[Cross-posted to evolution.]

Polls close in half an hour (19:00)

The polls in Kansas close at 7:00pm CST.

As soon as school was out, I went to my polling place here in Manhattan, Kansas, at a Presbyterian church a couple of blocks from my apartment. It was quite uneventful, which is as it should be. There was a long line; I waited for over an hour, and there were others who were there when I left that will wait as many as two hours. Turnout all over the city was massive, but good-natured.

The major issues on my ballot:

• US President: George W. Bush (Rep)


• US Senate: Lee Jones (Dem)


• US House - 2nd District: Jim Ryun (Rep)


• State Senate - 22nd District: Roger Reitz (Rep)


• State Rep. - 66th District: Sydney Carlin (Dem)


• On the question of whether to allow the sale of liquor in a restaurant without restriction that a portion of the restaurant’s receipts be from food: Yes, allow the sales

Also, Irreconcilable Musings has views on the Kansas 3rd District race between Rep. Dennis Moore (D) and Republican challenger Kris Kobach.

[Cross-posted to evolution.]

Five federal seats open, record turnout expected

There are five federal seats open in Kansas: one of Kansas’ two Senate seats, held by Sen. Sam Brownback ®; and all four of Kansas’ House seats, held by Rep. Jerry Moran (R-1st), Rep. Jim Ryun (R-2nd), Rep. Dennis Moore (D-3rd), and Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-4th).

Of these, the most hotly contested are the 2nd and 3rd districts. Rep. Ryun is being challenged by Democrat Nancy Boyda, and Rep. Moore is being challenged by Republican Kris Kobach, a former deputy of US Attorney General John Ashcroft. Both races (but especially the 2nd district) have been characterized by a great deal of nastiness on both sides. The Lawrence Journal-World has a good collection of stories about both of these races.

Also, Kansas Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh is predicting record turnout, as this Topeka Capitol-Journal article notes (free registration required, use login: evolution, pwd: nextstep).

Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh is predicting record voter turnout for the general election.

Thornburgh said a “perfect storm” of factors will drive more Kansans than ever to the polls — a presidential race between two very different candidates, a slew of local ballot initiatives, several large voter registration drives and an increased interest in advanced voting.

According to figures released Thursday, Kansas has 1.6 million registered voters. Of those, Thornburgh expects 1,288,200 voters will cast ballots Tuesday — 200,000 more than in the 2000 general election.

That number also would be more than the record 1,161,927 voters who turned out in 1992. That election featured prominent third-party candidate Ross Perot.

[Cross-posted to evolution. Further information and opinion can be found there as well.]