Douglas County voters buck statewide trends in 2010 general election

Follow the links throughout this story to look at detailed, precinct-level breakdowns of how Lawrence and Douglas County voters responded to the questions of this election, and then compare that to the statewide totals, all as part of LJWorld.com’s comprehensive election coverage.

Long known as a Democratic blue island in the Republican red sea of Kansas, Douglas County voters generally stayed true blue and backed Democrats in Tuesday’s election.

The election, however, turned into a historically good one for Republicans. Here’s a quick look at how Douglas County voted, compared with the rest of Kansas:

• Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Lisa Johnston won only two of 105 Kansas counties — Douglas and Wyandotte. Republican Jerry Moran, a U.S. House member, scooped up the rest and is headed back to Washington, D.C., with a promotion.

• Same for Democrat Tom Holland, who lost to Republican Sam Brownback in the governor’s race. Holland, a state senator from Baldwin City, won Douglas County — 60 percent to 37 percent — but lost statewide 32 percent to 63 percent.

• Democratic Attorney General Steve Six, who lives in Lawrence, won Douglas, Wyandotte, Shawnee and Pawnee counties. But Republican Derek Schmidt painted the rest of Kansas red to unseat Six. Six won Douglas County with a whopping 69 percent, but lost statewide 42 percent to 55 percent.

• Democratic Secretary of State Chris Biggs, a former Geary County prosecutor, won Douglas, Wyandotte, Geary and Riley counties, but Republican Kris Kobach swept the rest. Biggs topped Kobach 58 percent to 39 percent in Douglas County, but Kobach reversed those numbers statewide, winning 59 percent to 37 percent.

• In the State Treasurer’s race Democratic incumbent Dennis McKinney won Douglas, Wyandotte, Shawnee and Crawford counties, and a handful of counties in southwestern Kansas that he used to represent as a legislator. But Republican Ron Estes took vote-rich Johnson and Sedgwick counties in addition to rounding up the remaining counties to win.

• In congressional races, eastern Douglas County gave Democrat Stephene Moore a big edge over Republican Kevin Yoder, 61 percent to 38 percent, but Yoder won huge in the rest of the district to win 59 percent to 36 percent.

• In western Douglas County, Republican U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins edged Democrat Cheryl Hudspeth 49 percent to 47 percent and then went on to a landslide for the full district, 63 percent to 32 percent.

• On the constitutional amendments, Douglas County, like the rest of the state, supported the changes.

On an individual’s right to own guns, Douglas County supported the measure with 74 percent, while it passed statewide with 89 percent.

The amendment that removed a provision from the Constitution that would have allowed the Legislature to deny voting rights from those with mental illness passed statewide with 62 percent of the vote, while 68 percent of Douglas County voters supported the measure.