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Last-Minute Filing Scramble In Kansas Draws To A Close

redistricting.ks.gov

The Kansas Secretary of State officially brought a chaotic filing period to an end today at noon.

The Kansas City Star reports that Kris Kobach said there were more than 250 candidates who filed for the 125 House seats and more than a hundred for the 40 Senate seats. 

Some candidates were apparently frustrated by the changes brought on as a result of new district lines.

A federal three-judge panel released a new map Thursday night which surprised lawmakers and officials alike by scrambling districts.  In the House, 23 of the 125 districts now have more than one incumbent, and 25 districts were left without an incumbent.  Of the Senate’s 40 districts, four were left with more than one incumbent, and four were left with none.

The changes spurred a last minute flurry of activity over the weekend to generate new candidates for new districts and insure incumbents who suddenly had new opponents would be successful in keeping their seats.

At stake is the balance of moderate and conservative Republicans in the Senate.

Currently, moderates have a slight advantage and have succeeded in blocking some aspects of Governor Sam Brownback’s conservative agenda by working with Democrats.

Observers predicted early this year that the August primaries would be brutally contested.  Last week’s redistricting changes just made that all the more certain.

Here is a link to the list of candidates who have been listed so far on the official site of the Kansas Secretary of State (unofficial as of 2:30 PM).

 

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