<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/11/1604500323522.png" alt="Republicans have held a supermajority in the Kansas House for a decade and in the Kansas Senate for even longer. Democrats hoped to change this by flipping one seat in the 125-member Kansas House or three seats in the 40-member Senate. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Republicans have held a supermajority in the Kansas House for a decade and in the Kansas Senate for even longer. Democrats hoped to change this by flipping one seat in the 125-member Kansas House or three seats in the 40-member Senate. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure>By NOAH TABORDA <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/11/03/state-legislative-races-democrats-hoping-to-dismantle-republican-supermajority-on-election-night/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA —
 Republicans retained their supermajority hold over the Kansas House and
 Senate on Tuesday, handing a crushing defeat to the Democratic Party 
despite record turnout and fundraising.Many
 eyes were on the top of the ticket ahead of Tuesday’s election, but 
results in races for the Kansas Legislature could influence other 
elections for years to come with redistricting on the docket for the 
next batch of legislators.Republicans
 have held a supermajority in the Kansas House for a decade and in the 
Kansas Senate for even longer. If Election Night results hold, 
Republicans will be able to override any vetoes made by Gov. Laura 
Kelly, a Democrat elected in 2018.The
 Democratic Party’s easiest path to avoid this scenario was to flip one 
seat in the 125-member Kansas House. Flipping three seats in the 
40-member Senate would have also done the trick.Results
 thus far, albeit unofficial as more mail-in ballots and provisional 
ballots will be counted in the coming days, indicate Democrats won’t 
just fall short of that goal, they may lose seats. Republicans gained two seats in the state House and one seat in the Senate on Election Night.In the 19th Senate 
District, Rick Kloos, the Republican nominee, defeated incumbent Anthony
 Hensley, the Kansas Legislature’s longest-serving member, by 800 votes.
 Kloos, who celebrated his victory at the Pizza Parlor in East Topeka, 
said he felt he was chosen for this moment.“All of us were placed 
here for a reason and I believe that I was placed here to serve the 
people of District 19 and the state of Kansas for a reason,” Kloos said.
 “I will do my best to reach out and continue to reach out to the 
community around us.”In
 the neighboring 18th Senate District, Kristen O’Shea, a Republican 
business owner, leads Tobias Schlingensiepen, a local pastor by 6,000 
votes. Both sides had characterized the other as <a href="https://www.cjonline.com/news/20201012/in-senate-district-18-race-both-view-other-side-as-rsquoextremersquo">“too extreme” for Kansas</a>.Terry
 Frederick, a Republican, leads Democratic incumbent Jennifer Day with 
all precincts reporting in the 48th House District and 23-year old Avery Anderson, a Republican, knocked off Democratic Incumbent Tim Hodge in the 72nd House District.In
 Johnson County, several competitive races garnered attention for their 
potential to flip from red to blue. Results show this is not likely to 
occur, barring an influx of by-mail or provisional ballots.In the State House, 
Johnson County voters put their backing behind Speaker of the House Ron 
Ryckman, an Olathe Republican, for his fifth consecutive term. 
Democratic challenger Kathy Meyer fell short by over 600 votes.“I’m proud to have run on 
our record of common sense,” Ryckman said. “Together, I know we can get 
our schools, our economy and our lives safely back to normal.”Republican
 nominee Beverly Gossage, 21,688 votes, holds a lead over Democratic 
nominee Stacey Knoell, 19,641 votes in the 9th Senate District with all 
precincts reporting. Gossage was chosen to replace Sen. Julia Lynn, who <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/09/11/judge-grants-sen-julia-lynns-request-to-be-removed-from-november-ballot/">withdrew to provide care for her sister</a>.The 8th Senate District, the vacancy left
 by retiring Senate Majority Leader Jim Denning, did flip as Democratic 
nominee Cindy Holscher, who currently represents the 16th House 
District, leads Republican opponent James Todd by just under 3,500 votes with all precincts reporting. Next
 door in the 7th Senate District, the Democratic seat vacated by U.S. 
Senate candidate Barbara Bollier, newcomer Ethan Corson, the Democratic 
nominee, leads Laura McConwell, the Republican Nominee, by nearly 9,000 
votes with all precincts reporting.Kansans
 will have to wait beyond Tuesday night for results in some legislative 
races, although it appears the supermajority will hold. Thousands of 
by-mail ballots have yet to be returned, and provisional and write-in 
ballots will not be counted until after the election.In
 Wyandotte County, that means Democratic incumbent Stan Frownfelter, who
 launched a write-in campaign after losing to 19-year old Aaron Coleman 
in the primary, will have to wait to see any votes for him counted. Republican Kristina Smith is also running a write-in campaign in the 37th, a district that leans strongly Democratic.When votes are counted, it
 appears Coleman will take home the victory. The Wyandotte County 
election office reported Coleman received 3,496 and thus far only 2,013 
write-in ballots have been cast for any candidate.The
 outcome is not likely to affect the fight for or against the 
Republican-held supermajority, barring a miracle comeback from Smith.With
 all seats up for reelection in both the State House and the Senate, 
Democrats had felt confident in their ability to flip the needed seats.“We
 are in a good place,” Kelly said before the majority of results came 
in. “We have Democrats all across the state running really aggressive 
campaigns to take back our state.”House
 Minority Leader Tom Sawyer, a Wichita Democrat currently in the lead in
 the 95th House District, echoed Kelly in confidence that the Republican
 supermajority would end this election cycle.Democrats raised a record amount of money this election cycle, Sawyer said.&nbsp;The
 outcome of the 2020 election could have a lasting impact because the 
legislators elected this year will be tasked with redrawing lines for 
federal congressional districts and state legislative districts based on
 results from the 2020 census. With a supermajority, Republicans could 
dismiss any vetoes made by the governor on their maps.Attention
 to redistricting has increased in the wake of retiring Senate President
 Susan Wagle’s call to redraw districts to the advantage of Republicans.“So
 redistricting, it’s right around the corner. And if Governor Kelly can 
veto a Republican bill that gives us four Republican congressmen that 
takes out Sharice Davids up in the 3rd — we can do that,” Wagle <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/10/09/senate-president-susan-wagle-embraces-gerrymandering-to-benefit-gop-in-kansas/">told a gathering of Republicans in September</a>.
 “I guarantee you we can draw four Republican congressional maps. But we
 can’t do it unless we have a two-thirds majority in the Senate and 
House.”Wagle’s
 comments inflamed Democrats who accused state GOP legislators of using 
gerrymandering tactics to benefit their agenda rather than the needs of 
Kansans. The Kansas Democratic Party called on Republican legislators 
and candidates to reject Wagle’s position and instead support a 
bipartisan approach.&nbsp;“Instituting
 a nonpartisan redistricting commission would guarantee fair electoral 
maps in 2020,” said KDP chair Vicki Hiatt. “Voters should choose their 
elected officials, not the other way around.”If
 Democrats had been able to break the Republican supermajority, GOP 
legislators would have needed to work with the other party to guarantee 
the maps were approved by Kelly.

Kan. Democrats fall well short in effort to break GOP supermajority