Brian McClendon, the Lawrence Democrat running for secretary of state, demonstrates a new voting app on his cell phone during the Kansas Democratic Party's summer convention in Wichita on Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018.

WICHITA – Kansas Democrats gathered Saturday for their annual summer convention known as “Demofest” with high hopes for the upcoming election.

After nearly a decade of being shut out of every statewide and congressional office in the state, Democrats this year believe they have at least a 50-50 chance of winning the governor’s race, and perhaps one or two congressional races.

They also are fielding what they believe are competitive candidates for state treasurer and secretary of state, not to mention several state legislative candidates in districts currently held by Republicans.

Although it would take a dramatic shift in political winds for all of that to happen in the reliably Republican state of Kansas, state party executive director Ethan Corson, who just completed his first year on the job, said Democrats remain cautiously optimistic.

“There’s a lot of momentum, a lot of energy,” he said during an interview. “I think what you’re seeing this weekend speaks to that momentum and energy.

“But look, we’ve always understood that being a Democrat in Kansas, these are going to be incredibly close and hard-fought races, and we’ve never kidded ourselves about that,” he added. “We know that we’re going to have to run good, smart, tough campaigns, and I think we’re well prepared to do that. But nobody should have any illusions about how hard it’s going to be to win in the fall.”

Kansas Democrats are hoping that a potential “blue wave” across the country will make its way into the Sunflower State this year. Historically, the party that holds the White House can expect to lose seats in its first midterm election, and political handicappers like Cook’s Political Report say the growing controversies around President Donald Trump could produce even bigger losses for Republicans than would normally be expected.

Two congressional races in Kansas — the 2nd District of eastern Kansas that includes Lawrence, and the Kansas City-based 3rd District — are both considered toss-ups this year by handicappers, as is the race for governor.

In the 2nd District, former state Rep. Paul Davis, of Lawrence, faces Republican Steve Watkins, of Topeka. Watkins came through a seven-way Republican primary with just 27 percent of the vote, and he has faced open skepticism within his own party from county- and district-level leaders in the GOP.

And in the 3rd District, incumbent Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder faces Sharice Davids, a political newcomer who has drawn both attention and support from national Democratic organizations.

Official voter registration trends do not offer great signs of hope for Kansas Democrats. Since 2014, Democrats have added fewer than 14,000 new voters to their rolls, while Republicans have gained more than 24,000 new voters.

But there are also about 23,000 more unaffiliated voters than there were four years ago.

Corson said he doesn’t believe registration numbers tell the whole story.

“I always wish that everybody who votes for a Democrat would register as a Democrat,” he said. “But I think for a lot of people, they more or less function as Democrats, and they may just not walk into an election office and change their formal registration.”

In 2016, for example, Democrats picked up 13 seats in the Kansas House, including districts in the traditional Republican stronghold of Johnson County. In fact, Democratic registration in Johnson County grew by 16,657, or nearly 20 percent, from 2014 to 2018.

Those gains, however, were partly the result of widespread voter dissatisfaction that year with then-Gov. Sam Brownback, who has since left office. Corson, however, said Brownback’s legacy will still be an issue in 2018.

“Sam Brownback and the damage he’s inflicted is generational in scope and scale,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a single Kansan who’s forgotten the devastation of the Brownback years.”

Two of the statewide candidates Democrats have hopes for are from Lawrence: Brian McClendon, running for secretary of state, and Sen. Marci Francisco, the party’s nominee for state treasurer.

They both face uphill battles because those down-ballot races typically draw little attention, especially in elections dominated by competitive races for governor and Congress.

McClendon said he believes the legacy left behind by outgoing Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the GOP nominee for governor, will work in his favor.

“Because of Kris Kobach, the office has had way more exposure than it’s ever had before, and you’re able to reference and talk about that so people care a lot more about it,” McClendon said.

McClendon faces the current House Speaker Pro Tem, Scott Schwab, of Olathe, in the general election.

Francisco, meanwhile, faces incumbent State Treasurer Jacob LaTurner, of Pittsburg. Brownback appointed LaTurner to the post after former Treasurer Ron Estes won a special election for the 4th District congressional seat, which itself took place after former Rep. Mike Pompeo was named CIA director last year.

But Democrats’ biggest hopes in 2018 are riding on Laura Kelly, the state senator from Topeka who faces two significant competitors in the race for governor: Kobach and independent candidate Greg Orman.

Kelly gave one of the keynote speeches Saturday night at a banquet that drew an estimated 300 people. Known as a low-key personality, Kelly did not shy away from pointing out the sharp contrast between herself and Kobach, a close ally of Trump.

“I may not be the flashiest candidate out there,” she said. “I don’t yell and scream. I don’t pound the podium. I don’t call people childish names, and I don’t tweet crazy, incoherent things.”

The banquet, however, began on a somber note, however, when state party chairman John Gibson relayed from the podium the news that U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., had just died a short while earlier after a long battle with brain cancer.

An audible moan of grief spread throughout the room, followed by a standing ovation to his legacy.

One of the other keynote speakers of the evening, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, of Minnesota, who said she had worked closely with McCain on a number of issues, reminded the audience of something he had once said: “Nothing in life is more liberating than to fight for a cause larger than yourself.”