Linn County votes mirror state results except on Supreme Court election issue

Fewer than 27% of registered voters cast ballots in the primary on Tuesday, August 4. (Journal file graphic)

By Roger Sims, Journal staff

linncountyjournal@icloud.com

MOUND CITY – Republican voters in Linn County appeared to, in general, follow statewide or districtwide trends, according to unofficial results from Tuesday’s primary election.

Although workers at several polls across the county reported being busy throughout the day on Tuesday, August 4, the Linn County Clerk’s office showed that less than 27% of voters turned out.

Thirty-five percent of the county’s 4,842 registered Republicans cast primary ballots. Thirty-two percent of the 932 registered Democrat voters turned out, and just under 5% of the county’s 2,021 unaffiliated voters cast a ballot.

Some poll workers also reported bottlenecks as unaffiliated voters opted to declare a party affiliation at the poll, which they were entitled to do. County Clerk Chasity Ware said there may have been some confusion on how to handle unaffiiated voters who came in and wanted to declare a party affiliation at the poll. Some of those votes may have been deemed provisional and are not included in the unofficial results.

So far, the results are unofficial the there will be an audit on Friday, August 7, followed by a canvassing by the Linn County Commission, which Ware said would likely happen during the August 17 commission meeting.

The proposed amendment to the state constitution that would allow state Supreme Court justices to be elected instead of appointed drew interest from across the state. Critics claimed that the change would politicize the court and was done so to enable the Legislature to enact stricter abortion regulations. Proponents said that by electing justices, Kansas voters would give the high court the direction they wanted it to go.

Across the state, the amendment issue failed by a 22-point margin with 61% voting “no” and 38% supporting the measure. In Linn County, the result was just the opposite with 62% voting “yes.”

Statewide, the result mirrored the defeat of a 2022 constitutional amendment that would outlaw abortion that failed after more the 60% of voters cast ballots against it.

For county voters, the “no” vote was more identified as a Democratic issue, but with fewer than 300 Democrats casting ballots, more than 400 Republicans and unaffiliated voters joining forces to cast “no” votes

As expected, incumbent U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall easily received the nomination to face the Democratic challenger in November’s general election. Of the 1,638 votes for the race cast in Linn County, Marshall received 1,390 votes (85%), and his opponent Paul Naramore received  248 votes (15%).

Eleven Democrats filed for the chance to unseat Marshall, and one of the most recent to file was Methodist minister Adam Hamilton, who announced his campaign just before the filing deadline. However, Hamilton entered the race with substantial financial backing and won the the statewide Democratic nomination, winning Linn County as well.

For the U.S. House Representative 2nd District, of the 1,627 ballots cast incumbent Republican Derek Schmidt received 1,315 votes (81%) and his opponent Chad E. Young received 312 votes. Schmidt will face Democrat Don Coover, who has already made two campaign stops in Linn County and ran unopposed.

Republican Sen. Ty Masterson received the most Linn County votes in the race for the nomination for governor, receiving 743 (45%) of the 1,652 votes cast. Philip Sarnecki received 30% of the votes with 497, placing second.

For Democratic voters in Linn County, Sen. Cindy Holscher edged out Sen. Ethan Corson for the gubernatorial nomination. Holscher made a stop in Linn County in July, and Corson made a stop last year when he first announced his candidacy.

Renee Slinkard of rural Parker, who was running for a seat on the Kansas Board of Education, put considerable effort into her campaign locally and won Linn County with 41% of the vote. She beat Kristian Gerken from Paola and Destry Brown from Fort Scott.

However, in results across the 9th District, Brown cruised to a win with 43% of the vote. Gerken was second with 36% and Slinkard was third with 21%.

In other elections for state office, state Rep. Rick James in the House 4th District appears to be headed for a second two-year term in the Legislature, as is Rep. Fred Gardner in the 9th District, which includes swaths of Miami and Anderson counties as well as Liberty Township (Parker) in Linn County.

Linn County Clerk Chasity Ware and county Register of Deeds Debbie Snyder both are expected to be approved to retain their posts for the unexpired terms of the people they replaced.

And Robert Shelton, the sole person to file for the open county commissioner seat that represents the La Cygne and Linn Valley areas, is also expected to have his ticket punched at the general election in November.

For more local results, click on this link to go to the county clerk’s election results.

For state results, click on this link to go to the Kansas Secretary of State's site.

Unofficial election results (Source: Linn County Clerk’s Office)

Kansas Supreme Court Constitutional Amendment

Yes          1,146   62%

No 700   38%

Total votes cast: 1,846

U.S. Senate - Republican

Roger Marshall          1,390   85%

Pond Naramore 245   15%.

U.S. Senate - Democrat

Adam Hamilton 89   31%

Noah Taylor 50   18%

Christy Davis 39   14%

Sandy Spidel Neuman 30   10%

Patrick C. Schmidt 18     6%

Anna Parelkar 14     5%

Erik Murray 13   <5%

Michael ‘Mike’ Soetaert 11

Jason Hart   7

Kevin Latz   6

Damon Anderson   5

U.S. House 2nd District - Republican

Derek Schmidt          1,315   81%

Chad E. Young 312   19%

U.S. House 2nd District - Democrat

Don Coover 225 100%

Kansas Governor - Republican

Ty Masterson 743   45%

Philip Sarnecki 497`   30%

Vicki Schmidt 123     7%

Scott Schwab 122     7%

Stacy Rogers   67   <5%

Charlotte O’Hara   67    

Nick Reinecker   33

Kansas Governor - Democrat

Cindy Holscher 124   44%

Ethan Corson 109   39%

Kurt Skoog   49   17%

Kansas Secretary of State – Republican

Pat Proctor         1,459 100%

Kansas Secretary of State - Democrat

Jennifer Day 218    80%

Samuel Lane.   53    20%

Kansas Attorney General – Republican

Kris Kobach           1,512 100%

Kansas Attorney General – Democrat

Chris Mann 248 100%

Kansas State Treasurer - Republican

Steven Johnson     1,448 100%

Kansas State Treasurer - Democrat

Juan C. Luengo 245 100%

Kansas Commissioner of Insurance – Republican

Daniel Hawkins      1,423 100%

Kansas Commissioner of Insurance – Democrat

Dinah Sykes 242. 100%

Kansas State Representative 4th District - Republican

Rick James          1,325 100%

Kansas State Representative 4th District – Democrat

Write-in votes.    9

Kansas State Representative 9th District (Liberty Township) – Republican

Fred Gardner. 155 100%

Kansas State Representative 9th District – Democrat

Write-in votes   4

Kansas State Board of Education 9th District – Republican

Renee Slinkard 655   41%

Kristian Gerken 509   32%

Destry Brown. 445   27%

Kansas State Board of Education 9th District - Democrat

Heather Guernsey 238 100%

Linn County Commission District 1 – Republican

Robert Shelton 517 100%

Linn County Commission District 1 – Democrat

Write-in votes   2

Linn County Clerk unexpired term – Republican

Chasity Ware     1,523 100%

Linn County Clerk unexpired term – Democratic

Write-in votes   9

Linn County Register of Deeds unexpired term - Republican

Debbie Snyder   1,542 100%

Linn County Register of Deeds unexpired term – Democrat

Write-in votes   8