TOPEKA — Minutes from the deadline for candidates to file for the Kansas Legislature, Rep. Brenda Landwehr withdrew from the ballot after more than 25 years in the Kansas House to spend more time with family and make way for a Republican she was comfortable endorsing.
Landwehr, a Republican from northwest Wichita and the influential chair of the House’s public health committee, said the decision to retire was easier after getting to know Jill Ward, who filed to run in the 105th District’s two-person GOP primary in August and, if successful, against a Democratic nominee in November.
“I love the people and the work, but it is time to devote more of myself to my husband, kids and grandkids,” Landwehr said.
Ward successfully lobbied the Legislature this year to pass Levi’s Law to increase penalties for people found guilty of leaving the scene of a deadly collision. Her son was killed in a hit-and-run accident.
“Drafting, introducing and shepherding the bill through to being signed by the governor taught me a lot about the process and the people that make policy affecting Kansas families and businesses,” Ward said. “It ignited a passion in me to make a difference for current and future Kansans.”
On Monday, Landwehr was among 20 members of the House — twice the total in the Senate — who chose not to seek reelection in 2024. The list included moderate Republican Rep. Susan Concannon of Beloit, who was involved in policy initiatives on child welfare, public health and rural life. Concannon was a fervent supporter of Medicaid expansion, to the consternation of GOP leadership, and she looked “forward to celebrating its passage someday.”
Under tragic circumstances, McPherson Rep. Les Mason’s candidacy for reelection in the 73rd District was withdrawn after he suffered a brain aneurysm Friday. He was unresponsive at a Wichita hospital before passing away Monday, said House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita.
McPherson Sen. Rick Wilborn, who serves as vice president of the Senate and had decided not to seek reelection, filed for Mason’s seat in the House.
“We’ve been friends for 40 years,” Wilborn said. “We have served in the Legislature together, both serving McPherson County. We have a lot of common interests. I felt compelled, on behalf of Les. I cannot fill his shoes, but I can sure run for a seat.”
Secretary of State Scott Schwab, literally, brought a gavel down on new filings at noon Monday. Despite skepticism expressed by election-fraud conspiracy theorists in Kansas and elsewhere, the GOP secretary of state said he was convinced the 2024 elections would be fair, accurate and honest.
“Yes,” he said. “Our clerks will make it so.”
Triumphs by default
Overall, more than 40 candidates for the House, which amounts to one-third of the chamber’s 125 seats, immediately won their 2024 campaigns because none attracted an opponent. Twenty-seven Republicans and 16 Democrats were among lucky victors on filing deadline day. There also were five senators who didn’t draw a primary or general election opponent, and could only be defeated by a write-in or third party candidate.
Nine state representatives decided to leave the House to seek promotions to the Senate, and several former state legislators filed in an attempt to return to the Capitol.
Democrats fielded candidates in 92 of 125 House races, and placed a Democratic candidate in every House seat — except one — that was won by Gov. Laura Kelly in 2022. That fell in line with a quest of Democrats to break the Republican’s two-thirds majority in the House, which has made it easier for the GOP to override vetoes by the Democratic governor. Kelly and other organizations have set up political-action committees for the purpose of ending the GOP supermajority in the House.
