It was a quieter primary election in Johnson County compared to some recent years, but there were still some notable results that set the stage for November’s more highly anticipated presidential election.
Here are some notable takeaways from Tuesday’s vote:
There will be “a new sheriff in town”
Republican voters seem to have tired of Sheriff Calvin Hayden.
The two-time incumbent, who has spent the better part of three years fruitlessly investigating local election procedures, went down in a decisive defeat to former Undersheriff Doug Bedford.
After Tuesday’s unofficial results, Bedford led with 56% to Hayden’s 44%.
It’s a notable turn for Hayden, who didn’t face a challenger when he was reelected four years ago.
On Tuesday night, even Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab — a Johnson County native who has clashed frequently with Hayden over his conspiracy-minded election skepticism — seemed to celebrate, tweeting, “Looks like there’s a new sheriff in town.”
For his part, Bedford said GOP voters sent a message they want “professionalism” back in the sheriff’s office and not “politics.”
Bedford’s win sets up a general election contest with current Prairie Village Police Chief Byron Roberson, who faced no opponent in the Democratic primary. With Hayden out, expect election conspiracies to take a back seat to other issues heading into November.
Republicans stick with Howe
The single candidate with the highest vote total in Tuesday’s primary was a familiar face: District Attorney Steve Howe.
Howe, seeking his fifth term in office, easily defeated a Republican Party challenge from former assistant DA David Greenwald.
After Tuesday’s unofficial results were tabulated, Howe had a commanding lead with 64% of the vote.
During a candidate forum hosted by the Post last month, Greenwald hammered Howe for his role in Hayden’s elections probe, suggesting the DA should have done more to turn the sheriff off the endeavor. He also pointed out issues with staff morale and turnover in the DA’s office.
But those critiques didn’t seem to land with GOP voters, who are largely standing behind their guy heading into a November contest for which Democrats are energized.
Howe could face another former subordinate in the general election. In Tuesday’s Democratic primary, one-time assistant DA Vanessa Riebli held a 231-vote lead over defense attorney Zach Thomas.
Whoever is ultimately declared victor in that race, expect local Democrats to pour much time and effort into attempting to unseat Howe.
Fourth time’s the charm for GOP in Kansas’ 3rd District?
Republicans once again have a candidate they think can win in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District.
The GOP banner this November will be carried by Prasanth Reddy, a cancer scientist and U.S. Air Force reservist who has degrees from both KU and K-State. He topped Karen Crnkovich in the Republican primary on Tuesday with 53% of the vote.
He now faces an uphill battle in an increasingly blue district dominated by Johnson County. The Cook Political Report puts Kansas’ 3rd District in its “likely Democrat” column for November.
Davids won in 2022 by a wider margin than in 2020, even after redistricting appeared to give Republicans a likelier shot at taking the seat back.
Reddy has clear conservative positions: he’s anti-abortion in most cases, backs gun rights, opposes gender-affirming care and has talked a lot about securing the U.S. southern border.
Whether that plays in Johnson County and the wider 3rd District remains to be seen. It hasn’t worked too well three times previously.
Now eyes will be on full statehouse slate
There was only a small smattering of contested primary races for statehouse seats on Johnson County’s primary ballot Tuesday.
That will change in a big way in November.
Every Kansas Senate and House seat statewide is up for reelection this year, and all Johnson County voters will be choosing their state senator, representative or both.
Democrats’ hopes of breaking the GOP supermajority in Topeka run through Johnson County, where candidates are sure to emphasize issues like abortion access, gun safety, transgender rights and health care.
In total, 28 statehouse districts in Johnson County will have contested general election races this November.
In a possible sign of the purpling of Johnson County, there are another nine districts in which a candidate will run unopposed in November, guaranteeing them a seat in Topeka.
All but two of those unopposed candidates are Democrats.
Turnout took a dip
The last two even-year primary election cycles in 2020 and 2022 have been exceptional when it comes to turnout.
So maybe it shouldn’t come as a surprise that there was a notable dip in polling place traffic this year.
The Johnson County Election Office said after Tuesday’s unofficial final results were released that turnout for the Aug. 6 vote was 21.42%.
That number will likely tick up as provisional and mail-in ballots are counted this week, but that figure is well below the nearly 35% turnout for partisan primaries in 2020 and is a far cry from the record 56% turnout in 2022 when there was a much-discussed statewide abortion amendment on the ballot.
This year’s numbers are more in line with 2016, when turnout for the primary that year was about 20%.
It wasn’t just Johnson County. Officials across the state line in Kansas City, Missouri, reported lighter-than-expected turnout Tuesday, as well.
Maybe voters are saving their energy for the highly anticipated presidential election in November.
Regardless, thanks to all Johnson Countians who got out and voted on Tuesday!
