The Latest: Barnett wins Democratic primary in Kansas 1st

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - The Latest on Kansas’ primary election (all times local):

10:30 p.m.

Kali Barnett has won the Democratic primary in Kansas’ 1st District. The 35-year-old author and music teacher from Garden City defeated Christy Davis, the former executive director of Symphony in the Flint Hills.

Barnett will face Salina real estate broker and former Lt. Gov. Tracey Mann in the November contest for the congressional seat being vacated by Republican Rep. Roger Marshall, who on Tuesday won the GOP nomination for the U.S. Senate.

The seat hasn’t been won by a Democrat since the 1950s. It’s one of the nation’s most Republican districts and has elected three congressmen who went on to become U.S. senators over the past 50 years.

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10:15 p.m.

Salina real estate broker and former Lt. Gov. Tracey Mann has won the Republican primary in Kansas’ 1st District.

Mann defeated eye surgeon and Finney County Commissioner Bill Clifford, physician’s assistant Jerry Molstad and reverend Michael Soetaert.

Mann will face the Democratic nominee in the November contest for the congressional seat being vacated by Republican Rep. Roger Marshall, who ran for the U.S. Senate. But Mann will be heavily favored in a district that hasn’t been won by a Democrat since the 1950s.

Mann campaigned a an anti-abortion, pro-gun candidate. He said he planned to support President Donald Trump’s policies.

The mostly rural farming district is one of the nation’s most Republican and has elected three congress members who went on to become U.S. senators over the past 50 years.

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9:55 p.m.

Amanda Adkins has won the Republican primary in Kansas’ 3rd District.

The 45-year-old Overland Park woman is vice president of strategic growth at the medical records firm Cerner Corporation and former chairwoman of the Kanss Republican Party.

Adkins defeated Adrienne Vallejo Foster, Sara Hart Weir, Mike Beehler, and Tom Love and will face first-term incumbent Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids in the November general election.

Adkins stressed her support for President Donald Trump. Her campaign got a boost from a political action committee financed largely by her father. Davids received national attention as a Native American and openly LGBTQ candidate in 2018 and she’s already raised more than $3.8 million for her re-election campaign.

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9:30 p.m.

Kansas’ state treasurer has unseated freshman Rep. Steve Watkins in the Republican primary with Watkins facing felony criminal charges.

Treasurer Jake LaTurner’s victory in Tuesday’s election came only three weeks after the district attorney in Watkins’ home of Shawnee County filed the charges.

Watkins is accused of voting illegally in a Topeka City Council race in November 2019 and trying to mislead a sheriff’s detective investigating Watkins’ listing of a UPS Inc. store postal box as his residence on a state voter registration form. Watkins has called the criminal charges “bogus” but LaTurner argued that the criminal case made Watkins a vulnerable general election candidate.

Watkins is a former Army officer and military contractor who barely won his seat in 2018 as a political novice. LaTurner is a former state senator who has served as treasurer since 2017.

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9:10 p.m.

Kansas Republicans have nominated Rep. Roger Marshall for the Senate over polarizing conservative Kris Kobach.

The results of Tuesday’s primary were in line with the GOP establishment’s backing of the two-term western Kansas congressman in hopes of keeping the open seat out of play in the November election.

Many Republicans worried about Kobach winning the nomination because the former Kansas secretary of state is known nationally for advocating restrictive immigration polices and lost the 2018 Kansas governor’s race after alienating independent and moderate Republican voters.

Marshall faces Democratic state Sen. Barbara Bollier in the November election for retiring GOP Sen. Pat Roberts’ seat. She’s raised more than $8 million for her campaign.

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8:25 p.m.

Topeka’s mayor has easily won the Democratic nomination for an eastern Kansas congressional seat.

Mayor Michelle De La Isla prevailed in Tuesday’s primary election against University of Kansas instructor and graduate student James Windholz. De La Isla had the backing of prominent Democrats.

Democrats believe De La Isla could turn the seat in the Republican-leaning second district even though President Donald Trump carried it handily in 2016.

Freshman incumbent Republican Rep. Steve Watkins barely won in 2018 and faced a primary challenge from State Treasurer Jake LaTurner while also facing felony election fraud charges.

De La Isla has served as Topeka mayor since 2018 and previously spent five years on the City Council. She is the first Latina and single mother to serve as mayor.

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8 p.m.

A party-switching Kansas legislator who has raised eyebrows with her campaign’s fundraising success has easily won the Democratic nomination for an open U.S. Senate seat.

Democrats had expected state Sen. Barbara Bollier to prevail in Tuesday’s election because she has raised $8 million for her race and has the backing of party leaders, including former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary and two-term Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. Her only primary opponent was retired Wichita court services officer and frequent congressional candidate Robert Tillman.

Bollier is a retired Kansas City-area anesthesiologist and a former moderate Republican who garnered headlines by switching parties at the end of 2018.

She is seeking the seat held by retiring four-term GOP Sen. Pat Roberts. Republicans had an 11-person primary field topped by western Kansas Rep. Roger Marshall, hard-right conservative Kris Kobach and Kansas City plumbing company founder Bob Hamilton.

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7:05 p.m.

Polls have close across most of Kansas in a primary election that features a contentious race for the Republican nomination for an open Senate seat.

The polls remained open an hour later Tuesday in four counties along the Colorado border in Mountain Time than in the rest of the state.

At least 265,000 voters cast their ballots in advance of Tuesday’s election.

The GOP ballot for Tuesday’s election included 11 candidates for the seat held by retiring four-term Republican Sen. Pat Roberts. They are led by party establishment-backed western Kansas Rep. Roger Marshall and polarizing conservative Kris Kobach.

Freshman Rep. Steve Watkins was trying to beat back a challenge from State Treasurer Jake LaTurner in the Republican primary in the 2nd Congressional District of eastern Kansas. The election came three weeks after felony charges were filed against Watkins, accusing him of voting illegally in 2019 and other crimes. He has called the charges “bogus.”

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1 p.m.

Election officials in three of Kansas’ largest counties reported an uneventful start to voting in the state’s primary election, due in part to an increase in advance and mail-in balloting.

Nathan Carter, office administrator for the Johnson County Election Office, said no major problems were reported Tuesday morning. Election workers are concentrating not only on in-person voting but also collecting thousands of mail ballots. The county sent out 106,000 mail-in ballots and received about 70,000 before Tuesday. Voters can bring their ballots to polling sites or to drop-off boxes through Election Day.

In-person voting was steady in Sedgwick County, with short or non-existent waiting times. Deputy Election Commissioner Melissa Schnieders said the county sent about about 56,000 mail-in ballots for this election, a big increase from previous elections. She said Tuesday’s election was “pretty normal” except for preventative measures the county put in place in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

And Shawnee County Election Commissioner Andrew Howell said turnout in that county was “not huge.” He said only three or four poll workers out of more than 400 didn’t show up for election duty, which was typical of most elections.

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7 a.m.

Polls have opened in Kansas for a primary election that features a tight contest for the Republican nomination for an open Senate seat.

The GOP ballot for Tuesday’s election included 11 candidates for the seat held by retiring four-term Republican Sen. Pat Roberts. They are led by party establishment-backed western Kansas Rep. Roger Marshall and polarizing conservative Kris Kobach.

Marshall has support from key business, agriculture and anti-abortion groups, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and others failed to persuade President Donald Trump to endorse the congressman. Kobach is a former Kansas secretary of state who lost the 2018 race for Kansas governor after alienating independent and moderate GOP voters.

At least 234,000 voters cast their ballots in advance of Tuesday’s election.