The Kansas primary election races that could shift political balance in the Statehouse

1. The Kansas Statehouse could become a bit more moderate after the August primary election.
2. Republicans will almost certainly retain their majority in the state House and Senate.
3. The Kansas primary ballot is Aug. 6. You can find your polling place here .

Battles over school funding and bans on gender-affirming care could change in the upcoming Kansas Legislature session based on what happens in a handful of primary election races .

The Kansas Statehouse remains firmly in Republican control. The party holds a veto-proof majority and will almost certainly retain a comfortable margin in both the House and Senate after the general election.

But some key GOP-led priorities did not survive vetoes in the past few sessions because some Republicans broke from the party line.

These are some key elections on the Kansas primary ballot that could slightly shift the political balance of the state. These races don’t have any general election challengers.

Conservative senator who helped kill tax plan has two challengers in Kansas primary ballot

Sen. Dennis Pyle, a Hiawatha Republican, has been a thorn in the side of Republican leadership in the Senate.

In 2022, he didn’t help Republicans override the governor’s veto on GOP-drawn congressional maps.

Later that year, he ran as an independent candidate for governor. He lost handily, but frustrated conservatives said he siphoned away votes from Republican nominee Derek Schmidt.

And this year, Pyle cast key votes to kill some Republican-led tax packages.

“We need folks that are going to be team players with our party,” said Rep. John Eplee, an Atchison Republican. “And Dennis has shown us that he can’t be a team player.”

His antics have drawn two Republican challengers in the upcoming primary: Eplee and Craig Bowser.

Eplee joined the House in 2017. He is a doctor who went to Kansas State University and the University of Kansas. Bowser is a former combat veteran and small-business owner. He served as a civil affairs officer, which means he received “very specialized training in governmental operations (like) how to make governments run more efficiently.”

Both candidates are accusing Pyle of abandoning the Republican party, and Bowser said that’s hurt the district.

Pyle has been stripped of his committee assignments after crossing Republican Senate leadership. That means he has a more limited voice on how bills are passed and debated.

“We have no voice,” Bowser said. “We’ve had no voice in the Senate since 2022.”

Democrat who helped ban transgender women from women’s sports has three opponents

Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed a bill banning transgender women from women’s sports in 2023.

The bill was on track to die after enough Republicans crossed party lines to support the Democratic governor. But the veto was overridden because Rep. Marvin Robinson II, a Democrat from Kansas City, Kansas, joined Republicans.

Robinson didn’t explain why he voted the way he did to reporters. But that isn’t his only vote that’s fallen in line with GOP priorities. He’s also voted to increase work requirements to qualify for food assistance programs.

Kimberly DeWitt, one of three Democrats trying to unseat Robinson, said the district deserves someone who represents their values. If she was in office during the trans athletes vote, she would have stuck with Democrats.

“I am very much a proponent of trans rights,” she said.

Michelle Watley is also running against Robinson. She was less firm on whether she’d have voted for or against a transgender athletes ban, but said she would listen to her constituents.

The race could boil down to Robinson’s support of Republican priorities, but Watley said the district isn’t that simple. Property taxes are high, sidewalks need work and the district is short on grocery stores.

“There are issues that are far more pressing than Democrat and Republican politics,” Watley said.

Moderate Republican who protected gender-affirming care for trans minors will be replaced by more conservative candidate

Rep. Susan Concannon, a Beloit Republican, has spent just over a decade in the Kansas House. She filed for reelection but has since pulled out of the race. Whoever replaces her will be a more conservative brand of Republican.

Concannon is a moderate conservative who supported Medicaid expansion, for example. In the past session, Concannon was a key vote that killed a bill that banned gender-affirming care for transgender youth.

Republicans are expected to try again to ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth, and both candidates replacing Concannon are against the practice.

Gerald Johnson ran against Concannon in 2022 and lost. The pastor and former Army service member is running again. His family lives on a farm in Cloud County, and he said the vote on transgender health care was one particular issue he would vote differently on.

“Susan Concannon made some votes I disagreed with,” he said.

Dawn Wolf is challenging Johnson. She’s an Ottawa County commissioner and works in the public school system preparing kids for college. Wolf, who is endorsed by Kansans for Life, Kansas Farm Bureau, NRA, Kansas Chamber and the Kansas National Education Association, is undecided on Medicaid expansion but against gender-affirming care.

“They are not mentally mature enough to realize what it will take to maintain this lifestyle forever,” she said over email.

Influential GOP education chair challenged by Republican who wants more school funding

Rep. Kristey Williams, an Augusta Republican, is the chair of the House Education Committee.

She’s pushed for key Republican priorities like school vouchers and a parents’ bill of rights to give families more review over public school course material.

She’s drawn a far more moderate Republican challenger. Doug Law, an Augusta Republican, supports Medicaid expansion and wants to see “fully funded public education, including special education, and is committed to keeping public dollars in public education.” The battle over special education funding is an annual issue in the Statehouse.

Democrats say Republicans are shortchanging the system and leaving families out to dry. Republicans say they provide more than enough funding for schools to help all kids.

Law also supports Medicaid expansion, an issue that’s been blocked by multiple waves of GOP leadership.

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