TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on Kansas' primary election (all times local):
8 p.m.
A party-switching Kansas legislator who has raised eyebrows with her campaign’s fundraising success has easily won the Democratic nomination for an open U.S. Senate seat.
Democrats had expected state Sen. Barbara Bollier to prevail in Tuesday’s election because she has raised $8 million for her race and has the backing of party leaders, including former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary and two-term Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. Her only primary opponent was retired Wichita court services officer and frequent congressional candidate Robert Tillman.
Bollier is a retired Kansas City-area anesthesiologist and a former moderate Republican who garnered headlines by switching parties at the end of 2018.
She is seeking the seat held by retiring four-term GOP Sen. Pat Roberts. Republicans had an 11-person primary field won easily by western Kansas Rep. Roger Marshall.
7:05 p.m.
Polls have close across most of Kansas in a primary election that features a contentious race for the Republican nomination for an open Senate seat.
The polls remained open an hour later Tuesday in four counties along the Colorado border in Mountain Time than in the rest of the state.
At least 265,000 voters cast their ballots in advance of Tuesday’s election.
The GOP ballot for Tuesday’s election included 11 candidates for the seat held by retiring four-term Republican Sen. Pat Roberts. They are led by party establishment-backed western Kansas Rep. Roger Marshall and polarizing conservative Kris Kobach.
Freshman Rep. Steve Watkins was trying to beat back a challenge from State Treasurer Jake LaTurner in the Republican primary in the 2nd Congressional District of eastern Kansas. The election came three weeks after felony charges were filed against Watkins, accusing him of voting illegally in 2019 and other crimes. He has called the charges “bogus.”
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3 p.m.
Election officials in three of Kansas' largest counties reported an uneventful start to voting in the state's primary election, due in part to an increase in advance and mail-in balloting.
Nathan Carter, office administrator for the Johnson County Election Office, said no major problems were reported Tuesday morning. Election workers are concentrating not only on in-person voting but also collecting thousands of mail ballots. The county sent out 106,000 mail-in ballots and received about 70,000 before Tuesday. Voters can bring their ballots to polling sites or to drop-off boxes through Election Day.
In-person voting was steady in Sedgwick County, with short or non-existent waiting times. Deputy Election Commissioner Melissa Schnieders said the county sent about about 56,000 mail-in ballots for this election, a big increase from previous elections.
She said Tuesday's election was “pretty normal” except for preventative measures the county put in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
And Shawnee County Election Commissioner Andrew Howell said turnout in that county was “not huge." He said only three or four poll workers out of more than 400 didn't show up for election duty, which was typical of most elections.