The November slate became clearer Tuesday night in a handful of Republican Party primaries for Kansas Statehouse seats and one state board of education contest.
While vote tallies remain unofficial after Tuesday’s count, some Republican candidates broke away from their opponents enough to declare victory.
Here’s who’s leading in these races as of Tuesday night:
Kansas Senate District 9
Incumbent Republican Sen. Beverly Gossage handily defeated challenger Bryan Zesiger for the Senate district that includes De Soto and sections of Gardner, Lenexa, Olathe and Spring Hill.
Gossage had 75% of the vote tally against 25% for Zesiger, and the Associated Press officially declared the race for the incumbent Tuesday night.
A small business owner and health savings account consultant, Gossage ran on a platform touting lower taxes, affordable health care, safer communities and fully funding schools, while eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs and banning gender-affirming care for minors.
A retired Army pilot and entrepreneur, Zesiger ran on a platform of representing people across party lines, promoting Kansas agriculture and stopping property tax increases.
Gossage credited her primary victory to her political team and her canvassing the district and getting feedback from her constituents.
“People just resonated with what our message is, which is smaller government, less spending, helping people keep more of their own paycheck, reducing taxes, just running government more efficiently,” she said.
The winner will go on to face Democratic candidate Norman Mallicoat, who did not have a primary opponent, in the November election.
Kansas House District 19
Republican Mark Hermes appeared poised to declare victory over Anthony Orwick, leading that primary contest by a margin of 68% to 32%.
Both are vying for the Kansas House seat representing sections of Overland Park, Leawood and Prairie Village that is currently held by Democratic Rep. Stephanie Clayton, who ran unopposed in her primary.
Running on an “America First” platform, Hermes promoted lowering taxes, securing the Mexican border and improving Social Security benefits and Medicare.
Hermes had not returned a request for comment by the Johnson County Post at the time of publication.
Kansas House District 48
The closest contested primary race for a Kansas House seat in Johnson County came down to the Republican contest for House District 48, which includes parts of Overland Park between 119th and 159th streets.
On Tuesday night, Randy Ross led Debbie Paulbeck. Ross had 52% of the vote to Paulbeck’s 48%.
Formerly a senior vice president for a health consulting firm, Ross promoted fully funding Kansas schools, fiscal responsibility and beefing up IT and cybersecurity to stop hackers from getting critical information.
He credited his focus on cybersecurity as an issue that got voters’ attention.
“How secure is all the data in our school systems?” he said. “We’ve got a lot of minors and we have personal information on them. Those are the kinds of things that I worry about because I know there are bad actors out there who are looking for ways to exploit anywhere that we might have a weakness.”
A self-described “political outsider” with experience in healthcare, Paulbeck ran on getting tax relief for middle-class families and senior citizens, eliminating income taxes on Social Security, stricter sentences for drug dealers and more restrictions on pornography.
The winner will eventually face Democratic incumbent Rep. Dan Osman in November. He did not have a primary challenger.
Kansas State Board of Education Area 4
In a three-way Republican contest for a state board of education seat that touches several Johnson County school districts, Connie O’Brien had a comfortable lead and appears poised to move on to November.
O’Brien got 46% of the vote in the area, which includes parts of 11 counties, including Johnson County.
Meanwhile, Nancy Moneymaker came in second with 36% of the vote, trailed by Gina Montalbano Zesiger with 19%.
“My motto is ‘Good, better, best. Never let them rest until good is better and better is best,'” O’Brien told the Johnson County Post. “I want Kansas to have the best education for the students in Kansas across the whole nation.”
Previously serving in the Kansas House of Representatives for the 42nd District between 2009 and 2017, O’Brien focused on issues like local control of schools, higher pay for teachers, fully funding special education and more schools offering trade training.
Moneymaker ran on a platform focused on getting more input from parents in education, protecting children from being exposed to inappropriate material in the classroom or library and more transparency.
A former teacher and co-owner of a small business Z&M Twisted Wine with her husband Bryan Zesiger — who ran for the Kansas State Senate District 9 seat — Montalbano Zesiger’s priorities included well-funded schools and special education programs, as well as trade job training for middle and high schoolers.
O’Brien now appears set to face Democrat Kris Meyer, who ran unopposed.
The board’s Area 4 seat represents the De Soto, Gardner-Edgerton, Olathe and Shawnee Mission school districts.
