By BRIANNE HEIDBREDER
Insight Kansas
The 2024 election results in Kansas demonstrate that the state’s conservative foundation remains firmly intact, with Republicans holding onto important state and federal offices. However, a recent survey, Kansas Speaks, conducted by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University, shows a more nuanced and complex reality.
Despite recent buzz that the presidential race could be tighter, Republicans held strong up and down the ballot. At the state level, they held onto their supermajority in the Kansas Legislature, giving them considerable influence over key issues like taxes, education, and healthcare. This puts them on a collision course with Democratic Governor Laura Kelly, who may find it harder to push back against their agenda, as Republicans will likely have enough votes to override any vetoes she might try to use to block their bills.
Interestingly, the Docking Institute’s survey shows that more Kansans approve of Governor Kelly’s job performance than disapprove, creating an interesting dynamic as she navigates working with a legislature that holds such a strong Republican majority.
On the national front, Kansas’s congressional delegation remains predominantly Republican, with the notable exception of Democratic Representative Sharice Davids in the 3rd District. And since no U.S. Senate seats were up for election this year, the state’s U.S. Senate seats will stay in Republican hands.
Economic concerns clearly weighed heavily on voters, according to the survey. Over half of respondents (51.2%) said inflation had greatly affected their families, and nearly 43% expressed concern about economic threats to their well-being.
President Biden’s low approval ratings in the state, coupled with economic frustrations, likely helped Donald Trump, who won Kansas by a wide margin, continuing a long tradition of Republican victories in presidential races here. In fact, Trump’s margin of victory in 2024 closely mirrors his 2020 performance, indicating his electoral fortunes were not hurt despite being embroiled in legal and political scandals over the last four years.
However, when it comes to some social issues, Kansans appear to be moving in a different direction. In the Docking Institute’s survey, 65.4% of respondents agreed that women, not politicians, should decide whether to have an abortion, and over half (54.9%) said the government should not impose any restrictions on abortion access.
This is in line with the decisive vote in August 2022, when Kansans rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have removed abortion protections. These results suggest that Kansans are willing to break with conservative positions on certain issues, particularly when it comes to personal freedoms.
With a combination of traditional conservative values and an emerging independent streak on key issues, Kansas seems to be heading toward a more dynamic political landscape. While the state’s conservative foundation remains strong, the growing diversity of opinions suggests that Kansas’s political future may be more fluid and open to new perspectives than it has been in the past.
Brianne Heidbreder, PhD is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Kansas State University.