Kansas House District 8: Meet the candidates

Every Kansas House district covering Johnson County is on the Nov. 3 ballot. Meet the candidates running in your area.

Kansas House District 8 covers parts of Olathe and southern Overland Park in Johnson County.

See a district map to see its boundaries.

Republican incumbent Chris Croft, current House Majority Leader, is running for reelection against Democrat Megan Phillips.

Learn more about the candidates, who are listed in alphabetical order.

Chris Croft (Republican, incumbent)

Republican Chris Croft, who has represented District 8 since 2019, has served as House Majority Leader since 2023 and chaired the House Republican campaign committee from 2019 to 2025. A retired Army colonel who served 30 years, including as director of the Center for Army Leadership, Croft later became CEO of the Daniel Morgan Graduate School. Croft says schools have been fully funded for eight years and special education funding has grown 40% since 2017, though it’s still not at constitutionally required levels. He also wants to advance a plan that requires voter approval for any property tax increases above inflation or 4%.

Campaign website

Megan Phillips (Democratic)

Democrat Megan Phillips has not held elected office and lists volunteering on community mental health concerns as her civic experience in recent candidate surveys. An Overland Park clinical psychologist and behavioral health executive, Phillips has worked in private practice and for the Kansas state hospital system. Where Croft says schools are fully funded, Phillips says the state has shortchanged special education and wants to close the gap over three years, paid for partly by legalizing and taxing cannabis. She also backs Medicaid expansion and opposes school vouchers.

Campaign website

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