‘Value Them Both’ amendment rejected, primary ballot results

0
1135
Party at the Polls was hosted on November 6, 2018 in the Foundation building. Hosted by the K-State Student Governing Association, it was open to the public and encouraged students to vote at the nearby voting location inside the Manhattan Fire Station. (Archive photo by Alex Todd | Collegian Media Group)

Disclaimer: At the time of publishing, election results are considered unofficial. This article will update periodically until the results are certified by local and state election boards. This article was last updated on Aug. 19 at 12:45 a.m.

Kansas held its primary election on Aug. 2, rejecting the “Value Them Both” constitutional amendment and narrowing down Republican and Democratic candidates ahead of the November 2022 general election.

The “Value Them Both” amendment would have “affirm[ed] there is no Kansas constitutional right to abortion” and allowed legislators to pass further abortion regulations. The amendment was rejected with over a 60 percent majority according to the Associated Press, maintaining the constitutional right to abortion and restricting legislators from further regulating abortion.

The primary also determined Republican and Democratic candidates for the general election, including United State Senate and House seats, attorney general and several other statewide offices, including governor and lieutenant governor.

At the original time of publishing, Kris Kobach led with 42 percent of the vote in the Republican attorney general primary with Kansas State Senator Kellie Warren trailing just behind at 38 percent. Since Warren conceded the race on Aug. 3, Kobach will run against Chris Mann, the sole Democrat on the primary ballot.

Six Democrats and two Republicans ran for the Senate seat. Called by the Associated Press, Republican and incumbent Jerry Moran edged out Joan Farr with an 81 percent majority, while Mark R. Holland won the Democratic primary with 38 percent of the votes. Although not a majority, Holland received almost double the votes of other potential candidates.

Races for both Republican and Democratic governor candidates, called by the Associated Press, ended in landslides. Democrat and incumbent Laura Kelly will run for re-election with her running mate David Toland after receiving a 94 percent majority. Republican and current Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt won with his running mate Katie Sawyer with an 81 percent majority.

The Republican race for state treasurer remains close as Steven Johnson and Caryn Tyson are neck and neck, with Johnson pulling ahead by less than 500 votes. In a close race for secretary of state, Scott J. Schwab surpassed Mike Brown with a 55 percent majority.

Before the August 13 deadline, three races requested recounts for the election: the House District 118 (Republican) race, the State Treasurer (Republican) race, and the “Value Them Both” constitutional amendment. The recounts, only applying to select counties, go back and conduct a hand count of their ballots for the requested races.

A full list of unofficial results is available on the 2022 Kansas Primary Election unofficial results page. Although the secretary of state completed the audit for Kansas’ 105 counties on August 17, the results need to be certified before they are official.

Advertisement
SHARE
I'm Carter Schaffer, the editor-in-chief of the Collegian. Previously I wrote for the news desk and did some photo/video work. I am a senior in mass communications with an emphasis in journalism, and I hope to work in news or video production one day. I grew up in Andover, Kansas, home of the Andover Trojans, and I've been a Wildcat all my life.