It’s Election Day in Johnson County and around the U.S., as voters go to the polls to decide the balance of power in Congress, elect state and local officials, and decide on other issues and ballot questions.

I would say get out and vote, but there’s a good chance you’ve already done that in Johnson County.

The Johnson County Election Office on Monday reported that just shy of 190,000 voters cast ballots, either in person or by mail, during the county’s early voting period.

That’s already a turnout of nearly 40%. Local election officials say that’s a new record for early voting in a non-presidential year.

If you still haven’t voted, there’s no shame in that. The Post has you covered with this last-minute voter guide, which covers all the races, candidates and issues on your 2026 ballot.

But for many of us, the drama of casting ballots is already done. Now, we wait.

Here are some things we will be watching for as returns start coming in Tuesday night.

Two Johnson Countians at the top of the ballot

For Kansas’ most populous and wealthiest county, Johnson County has been largely absent from being represented in the highest offices in the state.

That could change Tuesday night.

Leawood megachurch pastor Adam Hamilton, a one-time registered Republican turned Democrat, is in a surprisingly competitive race with Republican Sen. Roger Marshall for a U.S. Senate seat. A final New York Times/Siena poll showed Hamilton ahead.

Meanwhile, Democratic state Sen. Cindy Holscher of Overland Park is in what appears to be an increasingly tight race for governor with Senate President Ty Masterson, if you’re to believe the latest polls.

It’s been since the Great Depression that Kansas elected a Democrat to the Senate. It’s been since 1972 that Kansas has elected a Johnson Countian to the office at all. (That was Prairie Village Republican attorney James Pearson).

You have to go back to the 1970s again to find a time when a Johnson Countian was elected to the governor’s mansion. The last time that happened was Republican Robert Bennett of Prairie Village, who served one term from 1975 to 1979. (Jeff Colyer of Overland Park was appointed, not elected, to serve out the final year of Sam Brownback’s term in 2018.)

Hamilton and Holscher are both Democrats, a reflection of Johnson County’s shifting partisan slant over the past 10 years.

Underscoring Johnson County’s importance to the campaigns, Hamilton and Holscher, as well as Masterson, all made final stops here on Monday before Election Day.

Something else to watch for Tuesday night? An Emerson College poll found early voters in Kansas breaking roughly 2-to-1 for Hamilton and Holscher, while voters who had yet to cast ballots leaned Republican. So early leads reported on Tuesday could dwindle or disappear entirely as more Election Day results get reported.

Kansas House balance could come down to a few JoCo districts

For Democrats and Republicans alike, the fate of the GOP’s supermajority in the Kansas House is a math problem.

One that is likely to be solved — one way or the other — in Johnson County.

Republicans currently hold 88 of the chamber’s 125 seats. Two-thirds of 125 is 84. Therefore, if Democrats want to break that supermajority and wrest back more legislative power in Topeka, they have to net five seats on Tuesday night.

Or, if you’re Republican, your party has to keep from losing five seats or, as the GOP did in 2024, pick off Democratic-held seats somewhere.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee is targeting seven seats statewide to flip or hold in order to break the supermajority. Five of those seats are in Johnson County.

If you’re keeping score at home, those targeted districts in JoCo are House Districts 14, 15, 28, 39 and 49.

During Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s tenure, the Republican supermajority was able to easily override her vetoes on some key issues. If Democrat Cindy Holscher were to win the governor’s race on Tuesday, she’d be aided by a slightly more Democratic House. Meanwhile, a Ty Masterson win would make the supermajority question largely moot.

JoCo’s U.S. House race

For all the ink spilled over the fate of the U.S. House this midterm, there’s been relatively little spotlight on Kansas’ Third Congressional District.

Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids earlier this year faced criticism from her left on issues like immigration and Israel’s war in Gaza, and she had to get by her first-ever primary challenge in August.

Davids ended up winning her primary easily, and there’s been a notable lack of drama in the general election contest.

Before last month’s final campaign finance reports, Davids held an eye-popping fundraising advantage over her Republican challenger, former Shawnee city councilmember Eric Jenkins: roughly $3.7 million to $19,000.

Cook Political Report rates the Third District a “Solid D.” Davids has secured reelection the past three times by double-digit percentage point margins.

That may have fed into Davids’ decision not to participate in a Congressional candidate forum proposed by the Post. Davids’ decision then prompted Jenkins to eschew the event, too, leaving voters without any opportunity to see the candidates — along with Libertarian Steve Hohe — together at once.

In another sign of the times, Davids spent Sunday campaigning not in Johnson County but in Iowa, stumping for other candidates in apparently closer races.

Don’t forget the localest of races

Even-year elections are mostly focused on state and federal races. That’s certainly been the case this year, but there are some interesting and impactful down-ballot races that will matter to many readers.

There are four seats up for grabs on the seven-member Johnson County Board of County Commissioners, the highest governing body in the county.

That includes a race for county chair. Incumbent Mike Kelly faces a challenge from small business owner Karen Crnkovich. Kelly has run on a message of protecting core services, like public safety and Med-Act, investing in aging infrastructure and promoting quality of life, while Crnkovich has vowed to cut property taxes and spend money more efficiently.

Three other commission seats are on the ballot, including longtime commissioner Michael Ashcraft, who calls himself a “consistent conservative voice” and often serves as the lone dissenter on many votes. He faces a challenge from current Johnson County Community College trustee Greg Mitchell.

Another incumbent commissioner, Becky Fact, faces a challenge from Ben Hobert, while Teresa Erb is running unopposed for an open seat.

Read more about all the commission candidates and their positions here. 

And one city will select a new mayor today: Prairie Village.

Councilmembers Cole Robinson and Inga Selders are squaring off in a competition to succeed outgoing Mayor Eric Mikkelson, who is not seeking reelection after two terms.

For some in the Johnson County suburb, this year’s mayoral contest is a continuation of a years-long electoral saga that made city council elections in 2023 and 2025 intense and unusually bitter.

The past elections were defined, respectively, by fights over zoning and a new city hall project, and those issues are largely in the rearview mirror now, making this year’s contest seemingly less fierce.

Read more about the two Prairie Village mayor candidates.