By ALIN HETT
Hays Post
Republican Ken Rahjes, Agra, won reelection to the Kansas House District 110 seat Tuesday night, receiving 6,826 votes, or 80% of the 8,526 cast.
His opponent, Democrat Mark Schaukowitch received 1,700 votes, or 20%, according to unofficial results from the Kansas Secretary of States Office.
Rahjes said Wednesday morning the election brought a range of emotions. He was pleased to win another term representing the district, but he was also thinking about colleagues who lost their races and the work ahead for the Legislature with new members.
“I’ve been on the phone now for three and a half hours since daybreak or before daybreak," Rahjes said, "talking to other legislators that are coming back of how do we move forward.”
Rahjes said campaigning is only one part of the job and lawmakers still have to govern while preparing for the next legislative session, which begins in January.
Rahjes said a legislative water task force is wrapping up its work and is expected to bring forward proposals in January.
He described the effort as a shift from previous work led by the governor, with House and Senate appropriators now leading the process.
Rahjes said lawmakers will need to consider water needs across several sectors, including irrigators, communities, municipalities and manufacturers. Before the election, he also named water as a top issue facing the Legislature in 2027.
“The biggest thing is it spills over from the water committee as well,” Rahjes said when asked about agriculture. “I think water is going to be one of the biggest things.”
He said Kansas lawmakers might also consider the state’s role alongside federal programs. Rahjes pointed to the beef industry, efforts to address screwworm, regenerative agriculture and agricultural programs at universities around western Kansas.
"We'll also look at K-State and their agriculture programs and what we can do to help continue to move those forward," Rahjes said, "and even with Fort Hays as well."
Rahjes also plans to try again to change how counties publish public notices. He said a proposal he supported two years ago did not receive a committee hearing.
Under current state law, counties must publish notices in a newspaper of record. Rahjes wants counties to have the option of posting them on their websites instead, which he said will help reduce county costs and ease pressure on local budgets.
Rahjes said the proposal would not prevent counties from continuing to use a local newspaper. He also said notices should not be posted only on social media, since not everyone uses it, and noted that residents without home internet could access county websites at public libraries.
“I’m not picking winners and losers and picking favorites,” Rahjes said. “It is simply a way of trying to work with our counties to help them so that monies can go to other needs they have or other things.”
Rahjes said his focus in the next term will include agriculture, the economy and taxes. In a pre-election questionnaire, he also identified taxes alongside water as a top issue for the Legislature.
“I’m not a social justice warrior,” Rahjes said. “I’m focused on agriculture, economics, taxes.”
He said he understands residents’ concerns about other issues and is willing to discuss them at town halls, but agriculture will remain a central priority.
Rahjes said the unsettled governor’s race and Democratic gains were part of the uncertainty he felt Wednesday morning.
He said uncertainty about federal policy and the state’s new governor and lawmakers makes it difficult to predict which proposals will move forward.
Rahjes also said it looked like Democratic state Sen. Cindy Holscher would become governor and that many lawmakers’ plans had changed overnight.