The House of Representatives chamber of the Kansas Statehouse is pictured July 23, 2014 in Topeka.

Topeka ? After picking up big gains in the November elections, Democrats and moderate Republicans in the Kansas House find themselves in new positions of relative power — and in the thick of contested leadership races.

On the Democratic side, Rep. Jim Ward of Wichita is actively campaigning for the job of minority leader, a race he lost two years ago to Rep. Tom Burroughs of Kansas City.

And on the Republican side, moderates like Rep. Tom Sloan of Lawrence are hoping to leverage their new strength to get key committee assignments and chairmanships in the midst of a three-way race for House Speaker.

“There are a lot more of us, and the speaker candidates have to take that into account when it comes to several things,” Sloan said Friday.

Although the Democratic leadership race involves the same two candidates as in 2014, the circumstances this year are almost polar opposites.

Two years ago, it was an open race because the previous leader, Rep. Paul Davis of Lawrence, had stepped down in an unsuccessful bid for governor. Following his loss, and the loss of five seats in the House, the question was which of the two could deal more effectively with the solid conservative majority and its leadership team led by Speaker Ray Merrick.

This year, Democrats are coming off of big wins, having picked up 13 seats formerly held by Republicans while losing only one of their own. Both Burroughs and Ward were active in campaigning and raising money for Democratic challengers, and both can claim some credit for some of the party’s wins.

But the question this year may be less about who can deal with conservatives than about who can work most effectively with moderate Republicans to form a governing coalition on issues including tax policy, the budget, education funding and writing a new school finance formula.

In addition, because Democrats had a net gain of 12 seats, boosting their caucus to 40 members in the 125-seat House, they’ll be entitled to more seats on each committee, which means the candidates for minority leader have a few more favors to offer as they try to court votes.

So far, none of the Democrats in the Lawrence delegation said they had committed to supporting Burroughs or Ward, and most said they’re not trying to bargain for better committee posts.

“No, I am very very pleased with my committees,” said Rep. Barbara Ballard, the senior member of the Lawrence delegation, who is running unopposed for another term as caucus chairwoman.

Ballard serves on the Appropriations Committee and could be in line to take over as the ranking Democrat on that panel, which would give her a seat in conference committee negotiations. That’s because the current ranking member, Rep. Jerry Henry of Atchison, stepped down in an unsuccessful bid for a Senate seat. A Republican won his open House seat, the only seat Democrats lost in November.

But Ballard said she is not asking for that position.

“I’ve turned it down twice,” she said. But if it’s offered, she said, “I’ve agreed to consider it.”

Democratic Rep. Boog Highberger also said he’s comfortable with his current assignments, which includes being the ranking minority on the Corrections and Juvenile Justice Committee and holding a seat on the Judiciary Committee.

“I’m happy to stay where I am, but I will go wherever I’m needed,” he said.

Rep. John Wilson, however, said he is stepping down from his position as policy chair of the Democratic caucus and would like to spend more time on what he called “the big issues” of taxes, the budget and education.

Wilson’s current assignments include the Health and Human Services Committee and the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

Meanwhile, Sloan stated during the campaign that he hoped he could return to the House Utilities Committee, where he had served every year since 1995 until Merrick became House speaker in 2011. And he would like to reclaim chairmanship of the House’s long-range planning committee, Vision 2020.

Merrick removed him from that post last year as punishment because Sloan led the committee to advance a bill in the 2015 session to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, something both Merrick and Gov. Sam Brownback vehemently opposed.

“I don’t know if that committee’s going to exist, but I’d like to be a chairman,” Sloan said. “I run a good meeting.”

Sloan said he has met with two of the three speaker candidates so far and planned to meet with the third soon. They include Rep. Ron Ryckman of Olathe, the current chairman of Appropriations; Rep. Jene Vickrey of Louisburg, the current majority leader; and Rep. Russ Jennings of Lakin, who is running as the moderate alternative.

But no matter who wins the speaker’s race, Sloan said, that person will have to bargain with moderates on a long list of issues.

“One is the state’s financial situation,” he said. “Another is the expected Supreme Court decision (on school finance). “We’ll have to put more money into K-12. And another is how do you continue to support higher education. If that’s an economic driver, you’ve got to support it.”

Rep.-elect Jim Karleskint, R-Tonganoxie, will be an incoming freshman in the 2017 session. He said recently that he had met with all three speaker candidates. And while he hasn’t committed to any of them, he said he has asked to be involved in education policy and the writing of a new school finance formula.

Leadership elections in the House and Senate will take place Monday, Dec. 5.