From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Aug. 6, 1986:

• The new ballot-counting machine used by Douglas County during the primary election had given election officials and other poll workers an unprecedented early finish time. The 8,983 county ballots had been tabulated by 8:22 p.m. and the county courthouse was quiet by 9:00. County Clerk Patty Jaimes said that she was pleased with the performance of the machine, which had been leased by the county with a 30-day option to purchase.
• In one of the closest primary elections in the state, Phill Kline, then a 26-year-old Kansas University law student, had won the Republican 2nd Congressional District race. Kline had beat Stan Eckert by only 525 votes in the contest, which had drawn roughly 40,000 voters in the 13-county district.
• Meanwhile, Kansas House Speaker Mike Hayden had come out the winner in the seven-way Republican race in the gubernatorial primary. Hayden would now face Democratic Lt. Gov. Tom Docking in the Nov. 4 general election.