Kansas, Attorney General

SETTING THE STAGE
Heading into the 2018 election, the sitting attorney general was Derek Schmidt (R), who was first elected in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014. Schmidt filed for re-election to a third term in 2018.
At the time of the 2018 election, Kansas was a Republican trifecta. It first gained this status when Gov. Sam Brownback (R) took office in 2011. Kansas was a Republican triplex in 2018.
Kansas was won by the Republican candidate in each of the five presidential elections leading up to the 2018 election. The widest margin of victory was George W. Bush's 25 percent margin in 2004 while the narrowest was John McCain's 15 percent margin in 2008.

State election history

This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in Kansas from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the Kansas Secretary of State.

Historical elections

Presidential elections

This chart shows the results of the presidential election in Kansas every year from 2000 to 2016.

Election results (President of the United States), Kansas 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Donald Trump	56.6%	Hillary Clinton	36.0%	20.6%
2012	Mitt Romney	59.7%	Barack Obama	37.9%	21.8%
2008	John McCain	56.6%	Barack Obama	41.6%	15.0%
2004	George W. Bush	62.0%	John Kerry	36.6%	25.4%
2000	George W. Bush	58.0%	Al Gore	37.2%	20.8%

U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in Kansas from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.

Election results (U.S. Senator), Kansas 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2016	Jerry Moran	62.1%	Patrick Wiesner	32.2%	29.9%
2014	Pat Roberts	53.1%	Greg Orman	42.5%	10.6%
2010	Jerry Moran	70.0%	Lisa Johnston	26.3%	43.7%
2008	Pat Roberts	60.0%	Jim Slattery	36.4%	23.6%
2004	Sam Brownback	69.1%	Lee Jones	27.4%	41.7%
2002	Pat Roberts	82.5%	Steven Rosile	9.1%	73.4%

Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016

This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in Kansas.

Election results (Governor), Kansas 2000-2016

Year	First-place candidate	First-place candidate votes (%)	Second-place candidate	Second-place candidate votes (%)	Margin of victory (%)
2014	Sam Brownback	49.8%	Paul Davis	46.1%	3.7%
2010	Sam Brownback	63.2%	Tom Holland	32.2%	31.0%
2006	Kathleen Sebelius	57.9%	Jim Barnett	40.4%	17.5%
2002	Kathleen Sebelius	52.9%	Tim Shallenburger	45.1%	7.8%

Congressional delegation, 2000-2016

This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent Kansas in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.

Congressional delegation, Kansas 2000-2016

Year	Republicans	Republicans (%)	Democrats	Democrats (%)	Balance of power
2016	4	100%	0	0%	R+4
2014	4	100%	0	0%	R+4
2012	4	100%	0	0%	R+4
2010	4	100%	0	0%	R+4
2008	3	75.0%	1	25.0%	R+3
2006	2	50.0%	2	50.0%	Split
2004	3	75.0%	1	25.0%	R+3
2002	3	75.0%	1	25.0%	R+3
2000	3	75.0%	1	25.0%	R+3

Trifectas, 1992-2017

A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.

Kansas Party Control: 1992-2019
No Democratic trifectas • 16 years of Republican trifectas

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19
Governor	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D
Senate	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R
House	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R

Demographics

Demographic data for Kansas

	Kansas	U.S.
Total population:	2,906,721	316,515,021
Land area (sq mi):	81,759	3,531,905
Gender
Female:	50.2%	50.8%
Race and ethnicity**
White:	85.2%	73.6%
Black/African American:	5.8%	12.6%
Asian:	2.6%	5.1%
Native American:	0.8%	0.8%
Pacific Islander:	0.1%	0.2%
Two or more:	3.3%	3%
Hispanic/Latino:	11.2%	17.1%
Education
High school graduation rate:	90.2%	86.7%
College graduation rate:	31%	29.8%
Income
Median household income:	$52,205	$53,889
Persons below poverty level:	15%	11.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Kansas.

As of July 2016, Kansas' three largest cities were Wichita (pop. est. 390,000), Overland Park (pop. est. 190,000), and Kansas City (pop. est. 150,000).