The secretary of state is in charge of responding to important questions regarding Kansas elections.
Should there be a three-day grace period after election day for mail-in ballots to be received and counted? How strict should the state be on preventing non-citizens from voting? Is voter fraud a serious issue?
The three candidates — a Republican, a Democrat and a United Kansas member — have different answers.
With current Secretary of State Scott Schwab running for the Republican nomination for governor, the seat is open. Here are the three candidates.
Pat Proctor — Republican Secretary of State candidate
Political experience: Proctor was elected to represent Leavenworth in the Kansas House in 2020. He chairs the House Elections Committee and has pushed legislation that he sees as making elections more secure against fraud — and that Democrats contend would suppress their voters.
Proctor championed a law that ended the three-day grace period for mail-in ballots, meaning only ballots received by 7 p.m. on Election Day would be counted. He said the law would restore voter confidence in election results.
After going through court, the three-day grace period was reinstated by the court of appeals.
Proctor’s primary opponent, Ken Rahjes, left the race for secretary of state after joining Schwab’s ticket for governor. That guaranteed Proctor the Republican nomination.
What else? Proctor served in the Army from 1989 to 2019, including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Proctor has his doctorate in history from Kansas State University, and three military-related master’s degrees. He teaches homeland security at Wichita State University.
His family owns Baan Thai Restaurant, which has locations in Leavenworth and Manhattan.
Platform: Proctor’s website focuses on ensuring only U.S. citizens vote (already the law), restoring Election Day as the final voting deadline and strengthening paper audits of elections. He says “nefarious foreign and domestic actors” affect elections.
In a recording made public last year, he floated the idea that 20 to 30-year-old women who hadn’t voted before were “stealing” the 2022 vote that put abortion rights in the state constitution. He denied his comment when asked to explain it at a town hall.
His campaign promises to recruit new businesses, lower taxes and cut government regulation.
Jennifer Day — Democratic candidate
Political experience: Day was appointed to a vacancy in the Kansas House in 2020 and then won her race to stay in office by 62 votes. She resigned from the Johnson County seat in 2021 after moving out of the district.
During her brief time in office, she sponsored legislation to end the state death penalty (the last execution in Kansas came in 1965) and to prohibit carrying a concealed handgun in the Statehouse.
What else? She’s lived in Overland Park for 25 years, has volunteered as an election worker and has served as vice president of the Johnson County chapter of the League of Women Voters.
The League frequently sues to challenge Kansas voting laws, including a lawsuit to strike a law requiring election officials to verify signatures before counting mail-in ballots.
Platform: Day sent her top three priorities to the Johnson County Post: increasing voter education and confidence, ensuring elections are secure and accessible, and strengthening the office’s service to Kansas businesses.
She said she wants to reinstate the three-day grace period for mail-in ballots and create a longer period for advance voting.
She says disputes about election law have become too partisan. She’s endorsed by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
Samuel Lane — Democratic candidate
Political experience: Lane is a political newcomer who’s been a registered independent now running for the Democratic nomination.
Lane says elections are “under attack by fringe partisan politics.”
What else? The first thing on his “about me” page is “I ain’t rich.” He works in construction, and says most politicians don’t look like him.
Lane says that because he’s not a politician, he doesn’t “have the insider information on the job that others do.” He’s met with county clerks and election commissioners to understand the process.
Platform: He told the Johnson County Post he’d push to restore the three-day grace period for mail-in ballots
He’s especially focused on deterring voter suppression.
“Most forms of voter suppression don’t stop anyone from voting,” his website says. “They just pile on more and more inconveniences in the hope that ‘undesirable’ people will give up and go home.”
Scott Morgan — United Kansas candidate
Political experience: Morgan sought the 2014 Republican nomination for secretary of state and lost. He also ran and lost for U.S. Congress and the state Senate.
An attorney, he’s worked for former Gov. Mike Hayden, former GOP U.S. Sens. Nancy Landon Kassebaum and Bob Dole, and was chief counsel for Dole’s presidential bid in 1988.
He served two terms on the Lawrence school board.
What else? In April, the Free State Party merged with the United Kansas Party. Morgan co-founded the Free State Party and now serves as the executive director of United Kansas.
The two small parties banded together to appeal to voters who don’t feel represented by the Republican or Democratic platforms.
Platform: He’s against adding proof-of-citizenship requirements for voter registration. He’s cautious about the mandates in the proposed federal SAVE Act. He’s a fan of advance and mail voting and would push to reinstate the three-day grace period.
