Seven incumbents lose; GOP pads majority in House

? Four senators and three House members lost their seats, though the overall partisan balance of power changed relatively little in the Legislature.

Republicans maintained a 30-10 majority in the Senate after Tuesday’s elections. The GOP picked up three seats in the House, boosting its majority to 83-42.

It wasn’t clear early Wednesday how receptive the new Legislature will be to raising taxes for education once it convenes Jan. 10. The issue dominated the 2004 session and could play an equally big role next year, after legislators receive an expected ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court on a lawsuit challenging the state’s school finance system.

In the 2nd Senate District, Democrat Marci Francisco, a former Lawrence city commissioner, defeated GOP Sen. Mark Buhler. In the 18th, Topeka lobbyist and Democrat Laura Kelly defeated Sen. Dave Jackson, R-Topeka, by 39 votes in final, unofficial results, with provisional ballots to be reviewed.

Sen. Janis Lee, D-Kensington, defeated Sen. Larry Salmans, R-Hanston, in the 36th District to win her fifth term. Redistricting of Senate seats following the 2000 Census pitted the two incumbents in a district that has a strong Republican majority.

However, Republicans picked up a seat in Wichita, where challenger Mike Peterson defeated incumbent Democratic Sen. Henry Helgerson.

Republicans also picked up one seat in a newly created district in Johnson County.

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.