photo by: AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

A woman shops while a voter casts a ballot at a grocery store, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Lawrence.

9:50 p.m. Incumbent Patrick Kelly and newcomer Ethan Spurling have all but won their races for the Douglas County Commission. Kelly is set to win a third term on the commission representing District No. 1, which is comprises large parts of west Lawrence. With about 80% of precincts reporting, he holds a 188 vote lead over challenger Milton Scott. That is about the gap the race has been all night long. Spurling has been increasing his lead over incumbent Gene Dorsey for the District No. 4 seat, which represents Eudora and parts of southeast Lawrence. Spurling’s lead over Dorsey grew to 300 votes, up from 243 when the County Clerk’s office last reported totals.

9:20 p.m.: We have a tight race in Kansas House District 42, which represents northern Eudora, Tonganoxie, parts of rural Douglas County and a sliver of far eastern Lawrence. Incumbent Republican representative Lance Neelly is behind Republican challenger Mike Stieben, a Leavenworth County commissioner. The race is 51% to 49% in Stieben’s favor. However, not quite a third of precincts are reporting and the vote difference is just 8 votes. So, if you are looking for a close race, look to the east.

9:15 p.m. In case you are wondering, Douglas County is picking many of the same winners as the state as a whole. Hamilton is up 35% to 21% over Davis. Holscher is up 50% to 40% over Corson; Masterson is up 33% to 25% over Schmidt, so that is a bit different than the state result. The constitutional question is getting crushed in the county: 87% No to 13% Yes.

9:10 p.m. It is looking more likely that one incumbent will win and one incumbent will lose on the Douglas County Commission. Incumbent Patrick Kelly has increased his lead over challenger Milton Scott to 185 votes, up from 148, when the last update was released by the Douglas County Clerk’s office. Challenger Ethan Spurling has increased his lead over incumbent Gene Dorsey to 243 votes. That’s up from 148 votes when the Clerk’s office last released totals. About 40% of precincts have reported, so these results are far from final, but big swings late in vote counting normally don’t happen.

8:50 p.m. The counting goes on, but national media outlets have called several of the statewide races. The AP has declared Ty Masterson will win the GOP nomination for governor, and Adam Hamilton will win the Democratic nomination for governor. The New York Times also has declared that the constitutional amendment question will be defeated.

8:45 p.m. If a close race is what you are looking for, the Democratic nomination for governor had been your best bet. But there are signs that’s changing. Cindy Holscher is now at 47% and Ethan Corson is at 41%. Gov. Laura Kelly won two terms as a Democratic in Kansas, but her endorsement of Corson may not make the difference in this race. Speaking of endorsements, it is worth noting what is going on in the GOP race. Trump-endorsed Ty Masterson continues to be in control with 42% of the vote. Vicki Schmidt won the endorsement of the Kansas Farm Bureau, but she’s not yet even in second place in this race at 16%. Businessman Philip Sarnecki, who definitely ran on a platform of how much he admired Trump, has the second spot at 21%.

8:40 p.m. Chip, chip, chip away. With about 13% of precincts reporting, the constitutional questions is getting closer. The No vote now stands at 68% and the No vote at 32%. Earlier in the evening, the No vote was above the 70% mark. Yet, this still hasn’t moved into a the category of a close race. The same could be said for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Hamilton is holding the lead at 40% in an 11-candidate field. Davis is second at 13%.

8:35 p.m. Every indication is that Suzanne Wikle will handily beat challenger TJ Campsey for the Democratic nomination for Kansas House District 10 in southeast Lawrence. This race had drawn some attention for a couple of reasons: 1. Campsey raised significant funds; 2. He’s a member of the Communist USA Party. As some social Democrats have been having success nationally, this race ended up on some radars. However, Wikle currently has a lead of almost 1,200 votes. She has 79% of the vote. I’ll let you know if something changes, but the outcome on this race appears largely set. Wikle, who is seeking her second term in the House, would not face a Republican challenger in the November general election. The district heavily skews towards Democrats.

8:30 p.m. With about 10% of precincts reporting, the race for two Douglas County Commission seats hasn’t changed much from early returns. Incumbent Patrick Kelly has a 156 vote lead over challenger Milton Scott for District No. 1 seat, while challenger Ethan Spurling has a 148 vote lead over incumbent Gene Dorsey for District No. 4. The race is for the Democratic nomination for both seats, but no Republican has filed for either seat, so tonight’s primary election is the key one.

8:10 p.m. A little tightening in a pair of state races Lawrence is watching closely, but not much. The No’s are still widely leading the yes votes in the constitutional amendment question. The No vote stands at 70% while the Yes vote has risen to 30%. In the Democratic Senate contest, Hamilton’s total has fallen to 43%. His closest competitor is Davis at 13%. The Democratic race for Governor remains very tight. Holscher 45% and Corson 43%. Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog has 12%.

8:05 p.m. Technically there is one other Kansas House race in Lawrence that is being contested tonight. House District 42 includes a sliver of far eastern Lawrence, but includes large parts of rural eastern Douglas County, northern Eudora and Tonganoxie. That race is very close early on. Incumbent Lance W. Neelly has a 3 vote lead over challenger Mike Stieben in the GOP primary. Five of 25 precincts currently are reporting in that race.

8:00 p.m. In the one Kansas House District race in Lawrence that is being contested, Suzanne Wikle has a big, early lead to keep her District No. 10 seat, which represents a large part of southeast Lawrence. Wikle is leading Democratic challenger TJ Campsey 1,074 to 238.

7:55 p.m. Trump-endorsed Ty Masterson has jumped out to a sizable lead in the race for the GOP nomination for governor. Masterson, leader of the Kansas Senate, has 40% of the vote, with his closest competitor, businessman Philip Sarnecki at 20%. On the Democratic side, however, an exceedingly close race is developing. Cindy Holscher has 45% of the vote while Ethan Corson, who received the endorsement of Gov. Laura Kelly has 44%.

7:45 p.m. One incumbent is up and one incumbent is down in early results in the Douglas County Commission race. Incumbent Patrick Kelly leads challenger Milton Scott 802 to 692 as a portion of advance ballots have been counted in Douglas County. Incumbent Gene Dorsey, however, trails challenger Ethan Spurling 652 to 510.

7:40 p.m. Very early results have Adam Hamilton, the leader of the largest Methodist Church in America, running well ahead in a 11-person race to become the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. Hamilton, leader of the Johnson County-based Church of the Resurrection has about 47% of the vote, while the next closest in the crowded field are Christy Davis and Noah Taylor at 11%. However, less than 1% of all precincts are reporting, so results represent a small sample.

7:30 p.m. Votes are starting to trickle in from across the state. Thus far the Constitutional Amendment to change how Kansas Supreme Court Justices is getting soundly defeated, but it the amount of votes tallied is small. The ‘No’ vote has 71% to 29% for the ‘Yes’ vote. A ‘Yes’ vote would change the system to require that Supreme Court justices be directly elected rather than go through an appointment process. The vote totals include some of the votes from some of the state’s largest counties, including Johnson, Sedgwick and Shawnee counties.