Election briefs

Douglas County

Several area races go uncontested

Candidates in more than half of the seven Douglas County races for seats in the Kansas House ran unopposed this year.

Anthony Brown, a Republican and first-time candidate from Eudora, will represent the 38th District. Brown replaces Rob Boyer, a Republican who in the primary unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Kay O’Connor for the 9th District Senate seat.

In the 44th District, Democratic incumbent Barbara Ballard was unchallenged. Ballard, a Lawrence resident and Kansas University administrator, was first elected to the House in 1992.

Democratic incumbent Paul Davis was unchallenged for his 46th House District seat. Davis is an attorney who lives in Lawrence.

Republican incumbent Joe Humerickhouse was unopposed in the 59th House District. Humerickhouse, an independent fee appraiser from Osage City, was first elected in 1994.

19th Senate District

Democratic leader keeps Senate seat

The Democratic leader of the Kansas Senate on Tuesday held off a challenge from an anti-gay marriage pastor he called a “one-issue opponent.”

Anthony Hensley of Topeka, a member of the Kansas Legislature since 1976 and a member of the Senate since 1992, earned about two-thirds of the vote in the race to represent the 19th Kansas Senate District. He defeated Republican Bob Hanson, a Topeka pastor.

Much of the race focused on whether the state should approve a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Hanson testified in favor of the amendment during the last legislative session; Hensley voted against it.

45th house District

Sloan repels challenge

Republican incumbent Tom Sloan handily defeated Libertarian Patrick Wilbur for the 45th District seat in the Kansas House. Sloan, 48, has served 10 years in the Kansas House and four years as chief of staff to the Kansas Senate president. Wilbur, 38, works as a project director for Pearson Government Solutions in Lawrence.

Sloan ran on a platform that included more funding for public schools and higher education, and increased investment in wind energy and biosciences.

Wilbur’s platform included making government, especially schools, more efficient before increasing taxes.

53rd District

Democrat wins 53rd

In the 53rd District House race, Democrat Ann Mah edged out Republican Jack Woelfel by a few hundred votes. Libertarian candidate Thomass Lessman finished a distant third. The district includes southwest Douglas County.

Mah campaigned on the issues of adequate funding for schools and letting small businesses participate in the state’s health insurance plan. Her previous political experience was as Democratic precinct committeewoman.

Woelfel served as a Republican precinct committeeman. He ran on a platform that also focused on school funding, as well as keeping taxes down and the right to carry concealed weapons.

Overview Unofficial election results Douglas County precinct map Election Day 2004 feedbacktext Kids Voting ResultsCounty Democrat unseats D.A. of 8 years Former mayor defeats Buhler in Senate race Embattled district judge stays on bench McElhaney survives short-lived deficit Record number of voters cast their ballots in county Douglas County kids choose Kerry Politicians, supporters share ‘crazy’ election-night revelry Voters approve Perry-Lecompton bond issue Township lacks candidatesState Moore fends off another challenge Ryun wins contentious 2nd District Congress seat Brownback easily defends his U.S. Senate seat Holland inches past GOP challenge Pine takes 3rd District Senate seat Wagnon wins State Board of Education race Seven incumbents lose; GOP pads majority in House Voters deny sales tax for K.C. arena Bush wins Kansas handily Kansans show they’re satisfied with Bush Counties see high voter turnout Election briefsNational Too close to call President ‘upbeat’ on election returns Kerry sentimental as race nears end Analysis: Emotions guided presidential voting Networks use care in reporting results New media throw caution to the wind Presidential race prompts late selloff State by state results: Midwest State by state results: West State by state results: Northeast State by state results: South California backs stem-cell research Voters in 11 states approve gay-marriage bans GOP wins key states in South World riveted by U.S. electionMultimediaphoto Photo Gallery: Election Day 2004 6News video: Dennis Moore wins in a ‘landslide’ 6News video: Dennis Moore victory speech 6News video: Bob Johnson wins 2nd District County Commission position 6News video: Paula Gilchrist presumed Douglas County Treasurer 6News video: Ken McGovern wins sheriff’s office 6News video: Jere McElhaney on the 3rd District Commissioner seat 6News video: Penrod optimistic about Douglas County Clerk position 6News video: Ermeling hopeful in 3rd District Commissioner race 6News video: Francisco likely to win 2nd Districtphoto Barbara Ballard talks about younger voters and their importance in this election.photo Barbara Ballard talks about being in Lawrence and Kansas on election night.photo Paul Davis talks about the importance of this election to the Kansas Democrats.photo Paul Davis chooses his most important race in Kansas.photo Paul Davis talks about the feeling among other Democrats in Kansas.photo Gov. Kathleen Sebelius addresses the crowd at Abe ‘N Jakes Landing.