Kelly Wins Kansas and Stitt Wins Oklahoma Governor’s Races

Brock Kappelmann - November 7, 2018 6:07 am

TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas voters rejected the sharply conservative message of Kris W. Kobach, a Republican known for fiery warnings about election fraud and illegal immigration, and instead elected State Senator Laura Kelly, a Democrat, as governor of their red-leaning state.

Kelly captured about 48 percent of the statewide vote to about 43 percent for Mr. Kobach. The result suggested a thirst for political moderation in a state Republicans have dominated. Democrats also flipped a Republican-held congressional seat in suburban Kansas City.

Kelly, 68, a longtime legislator from Topeka, focused her campaign on issues like Medicaid expansion, school funding and highway construction, winning endorsements from many prominent Kansas Republicans and votes from across the political spectrum.

She managed to win by large margins in several populous counties that favored Mr. Trump in 2016. She was leading by 16 percentage points in Johnson County, in the Kansas City suburbs, and by 23 percentage points in Shawnee County, which includes Topeka.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Political newcomer Kevin Stitt has won the election for Oklahoma governor, continuing the Republican party’s stronghold on the conservative state’s government. Stitt defeated Democrat and former state attorney general Drew Edmondson in the open race to replace term-limited GOP Gov. Mary Fallin. The 46-year-old Stitt, who founded Gateway Mortgage Group, cast himself as a businessman outsider in the mold of President Donald Trump. Stitt boosted his campaign with millions in personal loans.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – The GOP has continued its stronghold on Oklahoma’s statewide offices, from governor on down. Voters on Tuesday elected Matt Pinnell as lieutenant governor, and Attorney General Mike Hunter won election to his first full term after being appointed to replace Scott Pruitt, who resigned after being named head of the EPA. GOP nominees also held on to the office of schools superintendent, state auditor, treasurer and a corporation commission seat.