A former Kansas attorney general and failed candidate for governor has found initial success in his political comeback attempt, winning Tuesday's Republican primary for an open U.S. House seat.
Newsmax and DecisionDesk HQ called the race for former Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt in the primary in the 2nd congressional district of eastern Kansas. With 68% of the votes totaled, Schmidt had 52.4% to 18.9% for rancher Shawn Tiffany and 18.8% for Kahrs.
Even though Kahrs worked in former President Donald Trump's administration as a regional director for the Department of Health and Human Services, Schmidt won Trump's endorsement.
The Democrat race pitted former Rep. Nancy Boyda, who held the seat in 2007 and 2008, against Matt Kleinmann, a community health advocate and member of the 2008 national champion University of Kansas men's basketball team. The race had not been called by Newsmax and DecisionDesk HQ as of press time. Boyda, who positioned herself toward the political center, riling some party activists, held a 50.5%-49.5% lead over Kleinmann.
The district's two-term GOP incumbent Jake LaTurner was not seeking reelection.
Republican voters were also settling contested primaries in two other districts where incumbents were seeking reelection.
In the 1st district, which includes western Kansas, two-term Rep. Tracey Mann prevailed easily over Eric Bloom, a farmer and real estate investor. Mann's Democrat opponent in November will be Paul Buskirk, an academic counselor and adviser for student athletes at the University of Kansas. It's considered a safe Republican seat.
In the Kansas City-area 3rd district, physician Prasanth Reddy faced small business owner Karen Crnkovich for the right to challenge three-term Rep. Sharice Davids, the only Democrat in the state's congressional delegation.
There also were contested primaries in some of the 40 state Senate and 125 state House districts, and for offices in Kansas' 105 counties.
In the 2nd congressional district, many Republicans saw Schmidt as the leading candidate even before Trump's endorsement because of Schmidt's name recognition from his narrow loss in 2022 to incumbent Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly.
Trump called Schmidt "An America First Patriot" and added, "HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!"
Tiffany ran as a political outsider, often donning a cowboy hat during public appearances. In a mid-July forum on WIBW-TV in Topeka, he said the "radical left" has attacked the American dream and that "politicians – career politicians – have done nothing to stand in the gap on our behalf."
In the Democratic race, Boyda supported LGBTQ+ rights generally but said she opposes allowing transgender girls and women to play on female sports teams. She also called on President Joe Biden to end his race for reelection the day after his disastrous debate performance against Trump in June, well before other Democrats.