The year that was in Kansas

By Frank Morris,

Jacob Smollen

Published December 31, 2025 at 3:00 AM CST

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The Kansas City Chiefs' planned move across the state line marked an unusually bipartisan success for Kansas elected leaders. In most other ways, state politics in 2025 were marked by Republican wins and Democratic frustrations.

KCUR’s Brian Ellison spoke with Zane Irwin of the Kansas News Service about the year in Kansas politics, and about what to expect as we look ahead to an election year in 2026.

Contact the show at news@kcur.org. Follow KCUR on Instagram and Facebook for the latest news.

Kansas City Today is hosted by Frank Morris. This episode was produced by Jacob Smollen and KCUR Studios, and edited by Madeline Fox and Lisa Rodriguez.

Support Kansas City Today by becoming a KCUR member: kcur.org/donate.

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Frank Morris

I’ve been at KCUR almost 30 years, working partly for NPR and splitting my time between local and national reporting. I work to bring extra attention to people in the Midwest, my home state of Kansas and of course Kansas City. What I love about this job is having a license to talk to interesting people and then crafting radio stories around their voices. It’s a big responsibility to uphold the truth of those stories while condensing them for lots of other people listening to the radio, and I take it seriously. Email me at frank@kcur.org.

See stories by Frank Morris

Jacob Smollen

Jacob Smollen is the 2025-2026 intern for KCUR Studios. Email him at jsmollen@kcur.org.

See stories by Jacob Smollen

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