Patrick Kelly

Incumbent District 1 Douglas County Commissioner Patrick Kelly handily retained his seat in Tuesday’s general election, beating out Libertarian Steve Jacob and Republican Justin Spiehs by a wide margin.

With about 70% of precincts in the 1st Commission District reporting as of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, Kelly had won 7,278 votes, or nearly 83% of the ballots that had been counted. He was trailed by Spiehs, who repeatedly has spoken out against mask mandates and was convicted in Douglas County District Court in relation to actions while protesting. As of about 9:30, Spiehs had received 1,183 votes, or 13.46% of the ballots that had been counted. Jacob, a maintenance technician with the City of Lawrence, had 331 votes, or 3.76%.

Kelly said being elected a second time felt like an affirmation from the community of his leadership style and values.

“I’m very grateful and very humbled,” Kelly told the Journal-World Tuesday night. “I know those things seem trite sometimes, but they really aren’t. This community has put its trust in me and the other commissioners, and I take it very close to heart when they affirm that trust again.”

Kelly said there’s been “a lot of ugliness” and tactics like name-calling in this election cycle, and that he’s concerned that some of that behavior may continue in future elections, even though the community has spoken and said that’s not what they want.

Now that he’s been reelected, Kelly said there’s plenty to do; getting the Treatment and Recovery Center of Douglas County opened is at the top of his mind, he said. Kelly said he’s also anticipating there will be important work to take care of regarding housing issues, the $4 billion Panasonic battery plant coming to nearby De Soto, and the expansion of the Douglas County Commission from three seats to five, which appeared to have won voters’ approval as of 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Kelly was first elected to his seat in the 2018 election. He’s lived in Lawrence for more than three decades and is nearing 25 years of work with the Lawrence school district, where he’s now the district’s chief academic officer.

The 1st Commission District is located entirely within central Lawrence.