MOUND CITY – Votes cast for candidates by Linn County voters, for the most part, closely mirrored results from across the state.
Republican voters chose incumbent U.S. Senator Jerry Moran over challenger Joan Farr. Linn County voters gave Moran 79 percent of the vote, and across the state he won the primary by 80 percent to 20 percent.
Democratic voters in the county chose Mark R. Holland for U.S. Senate over second-place finisher Patrick Weisner by giving Holland about 36 percent of the vote.
In the race for U.S. Representative from District 4, which includes Linn County, incumbent Republican Jake LaTurner was unopposed. He will fend off challenger Democrat Patrick Schmidt in the general election.
As expected, Linn County Republicans – and Republicans across the state – chose Dereck Schmidt to be the standard bearer in the race for Kansas governor this fall. Schmidt and his lieutenant governor candidate Katie Sawyer received 72 percent of Linn County votes compared to 28 percent for Arlyn Briggs. Schmidt won the state with 81 percent of the votes.
Incumbent Gov. Laura Kelly received 89 percent of the Democrat votes in Linn County, and she and running mate David Toland chalked up 94 percent of state votes in an extremely lopsided contest with Richard Karnowski.
Secretary of State candidate Mike Brown won Linn County with 57 percent of the votes, however he fell short statewide in his bid to unseat incumbent Scott Schwab, who received 53 percent of the votes across the state. Schwab will go on the meet Democratic challenger Jeanna Repass in November. Repass was unopposed in the primary.
Former state Secretary of State Kris Kobach will be representing the Republican Party for the Kansas Attorney General’s post in November. He garnered 42 percent of the vote statewide, with Kellie Warren coming in second with 38 percent of the vote.
Linn County Republicans favored Kobach with votes – 61 percent – and the number of campaign signs posted around the county. Kobach will square off against Democrat Chris Mann in the general election this fall.
In a vote across the state, Republican Treasurer candidates Steven Johnson and Caryn Tyson remain in a statistical dead heat with 50 percent of the vote each, although on Wednesday morning, Johnson held a lead in the number of votes. (See the related story.) The winner will face Democrat Lynn Rogers this November. Tyson, who is from Parker and has served Linn County in the Legislature since 2011, handily won the local election with nearly 82 percent of the votes.
There was also no primary contest for the office of State Insurance Commissioner. Democrat Kyle Corkran will challenge incumbent Vicki Schmidt for the post on the November ballot.
In the Kansas Board of Education District 9 race, incumbent Republican Jim Porter won the Linn County vote (62 percent) and the district vote (61 percent) over challenger Luke Aichele. The win essentially guarantees Porter another term because there is no Democratic candidate. He is currently chair of the state board.
In the election for the state House of Representatives District 4, which includes all of Linn County except Liberty Township in the northwest corner of the county, incumbent Trevor Jacobs was unopposed in the primary and also has no Democratic challenger. Barring a successful write-in bid, Jacobs will likely be elected to a third term in office.
In the 9th District House race, which includes the Parker area, Republican Fred Garner will match up against Democrat Alana Cloutier in November. Both candidates were unopposed in the primary.
And while Linn County is no longer in the 5th House District following a redrawing of the legislative maps earlier this year, incumbent Mark Samsel, who represented a portion of the county for two terms, lost his bid for re-election to newcomer Carrie Barth.
Samsel, who pled guilty to misdemeanor assault following an incident as a substitute teacher at Wellsville High School in 2021, received only 37 percent of the vote.