Updated 10:35 p.m.: Democrats lose south Wichita seat in Kansas House

10:35 p.m. update: Wichita-area Republicans held control of their seats and captured one that has been held by the Democrats since 2012.

Tom Kessler, a Wichita Republican, defeated incumbent Democrat Stephanie Yeager in the House District 96 election. The south Wichita district has been held by a Democrat since Brandon Whipple won the seat eight years ago.

Whipple’s decision to run in the 2019 Wichita mayoral race gave the seat to Yeager, who was appointed by the district’s Democratic Precinct Committee. Yeager, running for the first time this year, lost to Kessler 55%-45% in preliminary results.

Several races that started off close on Tuesday night ended with Republicans eking out victories.

Republicans held onto Senate President Susan Wagle’s seat in east Wichita, with Rep. Renee Erickson defeating Melissa Gregory 53%-47% after being deadlocked throughout election night as results poured in for Senate District 30.

Both state parties and several other outside groups flooded mailboxes with mailers attacking Erickson and Gregory. Republicans were also able to hold on to Erickson’s House seat in District 87, where Susan Estes defeated Matt Fox 56%-44%.

Most of the candidates were unavailable for comment Tuesday night. Estes, whose husband U.S. Rep. Ron Estes won his race over Laura Lombard, said she’s focused on deregulation, cutting spending and giving tax cuts to businesses to get the economy up and running as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on across Kansas.

“The number one priority is helping businesses stay afloat during COVID,” Estes said. “We’ve lost too many businesses. As I went door to door, too many people told us that they were having a very hard time and they were paying their employees and not able to pay themselves because they were committed to keeping people employed. My number one priority is what can we do with regulations to help businesses stay in business and what can we do to trim spending so we can give businesses a tax cut and help them stay open.”

Another disappointment for Wichita Democrats was in Senate District 28, where Rep. Jim Ward lost to incumbent Sen. Mike Petersen. Democrats were able to hold on to Ward’s seat, with Stephanie Byers defeating Republican opponent Cyndi Howerton 54%-46%.

Byers made history Tuesday night, becoming the first transgender woman to win an election in Kansas.

The results are unofficial. The election office will still count ballots postmarked on Election Day as long as they are received by Friday.

9 p.m. update: Two Kansas House Democrats are falling behind their opponents in south Wichita, according to the most recent election results reported by the Sedgwick County election office.

Steven Crum, a south Wichita Democrat, has fallen behind 56%-44% to Republican incumbent Rep. Ron Howard in House District 98 with six of 15 precincts reporting results.

In District 96, also in south Wichita, Rep. Stephanie Yeager trails Republican challenger Tom Kessler 53%-47% with just over half the precincts reporting.

In the Senate, Renee Erickson now has a 51%-49% lead over Melissa Gregory with roughly half of the precincts reporting. The race has been one of the closest in the state so far this election as voters pick a replacement for Senate President Susan Wagle.

8:30 p.m. update: Renee Erickson and Melissa Gregory are deadlocked at 50-50 in the second set of election night results.

Erickson, a Republican member of the State House, and Gregory, a Democrat, are seeking the east Wichita Senate seat currently occupied by Senate President Susan Wagle.

Sen. Mike Petersen has a 52-48 lead over Rep. Jim Ward in the race for Senate District 28 in south-central Wichita. It’s the first lead change of the night. Ward, a Wichita Democrat, started the night with slim lead early Tuesday night.

Petersen, a Republican, is defending his seat against Ward, who’s trying to make a jump from the House to the Senate.

In the House races, Patrick Penn, a Wichita Republican, held onto his early lead 54-46 against Democrat Marcey Gregory. The winner will replace Rep. Michael Capps as the Representative for east Sedgwick County, including parts of northeast Wichita, and western Butler County.

Susan Estes, a Republican, maintained a small lead over the Democratic candidate Matt Fox in House District 87.

In south Wichita, Republican Tom Kessler jumped Democratic incumbent Stephanie Yeager and held a 52-47 lead.

Original story: Every seat in the Kansas Legislature — 125 House seats and 40 Senate seats — is up for election this year, and the winners on Election Day will shape Kansas politics and government as the state grapples with it public health response and economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Several open and competitive seats are in the Wichita area. The first results posted Tuesday night showed two Wichita Senate races with less than one percentage point separating the candidates.

Stephanie Byers, a Democratic candidate in House District 86 seeking to replace Rep. Jim Ward as a representative for south-central Wichita, took a 59-40 lead on Cyndi Howerton, a Republican. Byers, a retired Wichita public school teacher and band director at Wichita North High School, could become the first transgender state legislator in state history.

House members serve two-year terms; Senate members, four-year terms.

Senate District 30 - East Wichita

Melissa Gregory jumped out to an early lead in the race for Senate District 30. With only 21,298 advance ballots counted, Gregory had a 51-49 lead.

Renee Erickson, a Wichita Republican in the Kansas House, and Gregory, a Democrat and former staffer for both former Kansas Congressman Dan Glickman and former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, are competing for the vacant seat left by Senate President Susan Wagle, who decided not to seek re-election.

Erickson, a retired Wichita Public Schools middle school principal who is opposed to increasing education funding and has said she wants more money going directly to teachers and instruction, is Wagle’s pick for a replacement.

But Wagle has also expressed concerns that the district has “moved to the left” since 2016. Gregory will test that theory.

Senate District 28 - Southeast Wichita, Oaklawn

Jim Ward, a Wichita Democrat, took a slim lead (50.11-49.73) early Tuesday night with 12,532 early votes counted in District 28.

Mike Petersen, a Republican, is defending his seat against Ward, who’s trying to make a jump from the House to the Senate.

House District 79 - Winfield, Mulvane and Belle Plaine

Ken White, a Belle Plaine Democrat, is trying to unseat Cheryl Helmer, a Mulvane Republican.

White trailed Helmer 44-56 in early results with 4,326 votes counted.

Helmer recently attracted national attention early on in the COVID-19 pandemic by requesting information on Gov. Laura Kelly’s hair stylist. She also falsely characterized Wichita as a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants while addressing U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran at a town hall meeting last year.

House District 85 - Northeast Sedgwick County, Benton in Butler County

Marcey Gregory, Democrat, and Patrick Penn, Republican, are running against each other to represent the 85th district, which covers Benton as well as parts of Bel Aire, Kechi and north Wichita.

Early Tuesday, Penn took a 55%-45% lead with 8,195 ballots counted.

The winner takes over a seat held by Michael Capps, a controversial Wichita Republican whose own party disowned him due to his involvement in a falsified smear campaign against Brandon Whipple in the 2019 mayoral election.

Penn, who campaigned on restoring integrity to the 85th District, defeated Capps by a wide margin (74-26) in the primary.

Gregory, 59, ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. She is a business owner of First Gear for 25 years and MG Ventures for 15 years, and is a former Mayor of Goddard. Gregory told the Wichita Eagle that her priorities are economic recovery, supporting local businesses and workers, keeping Kansas schools strong and safe, Medicaid expansion, and saving rural hospitals.

Gregory’s campaign raised $11,634.90 between July 24 and Oct. 2, and had $25,105.17 to spend on the campaign during that period.

Penn, 41, served in the Army for more than 20 years, as a Sergeant for nine years and as a Captain for 11 years. He is participating in his first election. Penn told the Wichita Eagle that his priorities include providing good roads, great schools, lowering Kansas taxes, increasing good jobs, and balancing Kansas’s budget.

Penn’s campaign raised $24,465 between July 24 and Oct. 2, and had $40,019.46 to spend on the campaign during that period.

The race between Gregory and Penn took an ugly turn in recent weeks with mailers from the state party committees. The Kansas Republican party accused Gregory of being funded by Black Lives Matter and wanting to defund police.

The Kansas Democratic Party sent out mailers that featured an portrait of Penn, a Black man, with a red overlay that darkened his skin.

Penn has called the mailer “Blackface” and racist. Gregory said the Republicans are trying to have it both ways, calling her racist and also saying she’s part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

House District 87 - East Wichita

Susan Oliver Estes, a Wichita Republican, and Matt Fox, a Wichita Democrat, are facing off to represent the 87th district, which covers parts of east Wichita. As early results rolled in from advance ballots, the race was 50-50 with just over 7,700 ballots counted.

The winner will fill the seat left vacant by Wichita Republican Renee Erickson, who is running for the state Senate.

Estes, 54, has experience in teaching, market research, and as a business development specialist. She said her priorities include rebuilding the economy to create jobs, improving education by ensuring funding gets to classrooms, and addressing the mental health crisis.

Estes is married to Congressman Ron Estes and has worked as a field director of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative/libertarian group that is part of a nationwide political network associated with Koch Industries. She is also on the board of the Wichita Public Library Foundation.

Estes’ campaign raised $43,705.20 between July 24 and Oct. 2, and had $73,281.78 to spend on the campaign during that period.

Fox, 28, is a teacher and wrestling coach at Marvin Sisk Middle School, in the Douglass public school district. Fox told the Wichita Eagle that his priorities are to ensure families have access to affordable healthcare, to fully fund public schools, and to deal with COVID-19 so that schools and businesses can stay open.

Fox’s campaign raised $28,886.24 between July 24 and Oct. 2, and had $49,197.54 to spend on the campaign during that period.

House District 96 - South Wichita

Republican Tom Kessler is running against Democrat Stephanie Yeager in District 96, which covers part of south Wichita.

Yeager, the incumbent, had a 51-49 lead with 3,629 ballots counted early Tuesday night.

The seat was previously held by Brandon Whipple, who was replaced by Yeager after he won the 2019 mayoral race.

Kessler, 52, was born in south Wichita and has owned Tom’s Wines and Spirits, a liquor store, for 25 years. He said that his priorities include economic recovery, job creation and supporting law enforcement.

Kessler’s campaign raised $7,670 between July 24 and Oct. 2, and had $11,162.13 to spend on the campaign during that period.

Yeager, 45, owns Digital Twist LLC, a communications business, and has been in south Wichita for 30 years. She said her priorities are education, mental health, and lowering taxes on food and essentials.

Yeager’s campaign raised $35,517.45 between July 24 and Oct. 2, and had $41,793.80 to spend on the campaign during that period.

This story was produced with the help of The Sunflower and is published here as part of the Wichita Journalism Collaborative, a partnership of seven media companies, including The Wichita Eagle.

This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 7:53 PM.