Kansas' thirty-fourth state senate district is represented by Republican Senator Edward Berger.

Kansas state senators represent an average of 71,328 residents. After the 2000 Census, each member represented 67,210 residents.

About the chamber

Members of the Kansas State Senate serve four-year terms and are not subject to term limits. Kansas legislators assume office the second Monday of January after their election.

Qualifications

Section 4 of Article 2 of the Kansas Constitution states, "During the time that any person is a candidate for nomination or election to the legislature and during the term of each legislator, such candidate or legislator shall be and remain a qualified elector who resides in his or her district."

Salaries

Pension

As of 2011, when pensions are calculated for Kansas legislators, their normal annual salary is inflated by nearly $78,000. This is composed of $32,982, which comes from multiplying their daily salary by 372 (the number of days they would work if in session every day and if every month had 31 days), $45,756 from adding in their daily per diem (also based on 372 days), and $7,083 from expense payments. According to Sen. Steve Morris, this is intended as compensation because of low legislative salaries which are seen as difficult to raise.

Vacancies

The Governor is responsible for filling all vacancies in the senate.

The political party committee that last held the vacant seat must call for a convention within 21 days of the vacancy. The convention is designed to select the Governor's appointee and involves all the committeemen and committeewomen that represent the vacant senate district.

The committeemen and committeewomen present for voting must approve a replacement on a simple majority vote. Once the vote has been conducted, the party committee must send the paperwork certifying the selection to the Governor within 24 hours or the next business day. The Governor has seven days after receiving the paperwork to act on the appointment.

Elections

2016

Elections for the Kansas State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election was held on August 2, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2016.

Edward Berger defeated Homer Gilson in the Kansas State Senate District 34 general election.

Kansas State Senate, District 34 General Election, 2016

Homer Gilson ran unopposed in the Kansas State Senate District 34 Democratic primary.
Edward Berger defeated incumbent Terry Bruce in the Kansas State Senate District 34 Republican primary.

Kansas State Senate, District 34 Republican Primary, 2016

Primary election

In the primary elections held on August 2, 2016, six incumbents were defeated in the state Senate, while nine incumbents were defeated in the state House. Outside of the one incumbent Democrat who was defeated in the House, moderates defeated 14 conservative Republican incumbents in the primary. Before the 2016 primary, moderate Republicans had been losing ground in the state legislature since the 2010 election of Gov. Sam Brownback (R), shifting from a more moderate Republican-controlled state legislature to a more conservative one after the 2012 elections. Eighteen Republican incumbents were defeated in the conservative wave in 2012. Terry Bruce was one of 14 Republican incumbents who were defeated in the 2016 primary.

2012

Elections for the office of Kansas State Senate consisted of a primary election on August 7, 2012, and a general election on November 6, 2012. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 11, 2012. Incumbent Terry Bruce (R) defeated Mark R. Treaster (D) in the general election. Neither candidate faced opposition in their primary.

Kansas State Senate, District 34, General Election, 2012

Campaign contributions

From 2002 to 2016, candidates for Kansas State Senate District 34 raised a total of $1,070,695. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $62,982 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money.

Campaign contributions, Kansas State Senate District 34