photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

The Kansas Statehouse in Topeka is pictured on Dec. 20, 2023.

In a night of historic feats for Democrats across the country on Tuesday, in Kansas, a milestone was achieved: Democrats in the state House of Representatives flipped more seats than in any election since 1930.

Back then, a year into Herbert Hoover’s only term as president, Democrats picked up 23 seats — 22 from Republicans and one independent seat, according to the State Library of Kansas. On Tuesday, they flipped 20 to break a Republican supermajority and take away their veto power in the 125-member chamber.

When they convene in January, House Democrats will hold 57 seats to Republican’s 68, according to unofficial totals from the Secretary of State’s office. The 11-seat margin is the slimmest in at least a decade and puts Democrats closer to the 1991-1992 legislative session, when they held the majority by a single seat.

Tuesday night — a night in which Democrats flipped both chambers of Congress and won several gubernatorial races — was described by many across the political spectrum as “stunning,” “shocking” and “historic.” Here in Lawrence, Democratic Rep. Suzanne Wikle used another term to describe that night’s milestone.

“Our caucus didn’t just break the supermajority,” Wikle told the Journal-World on Wednesday, “we smashed it.”

The numbers back her claim. Some of the seats Democrats flipped on Tuesday swung by as much as double-digit margins from the 2024 election.

Republican Tom Kessler, who won his District 96 seat by 10 percentage points in 2024, lost to his Democratic challenger, Jessica Maldonado, on Tuesday by an even wider margin of 11 points. Republican Jill Ward, who handily won her District 105 seat by 18 percentage points two years ago, lost it by two points on Tuesday. And District 43, parts of which are in Douglas County, switched hands after 14 years of Republican control when Democrat Kristen Schultz ended Republican Bill Sutton’s run as a state legislator in a district where he was rarely challenged.

A tally of the numbers shows that Republicans in Kansas either stayed home or chose not to vote, a pattern that aligns with a broader national narrative where many surmised that Republicans fed up with the Trump administration were planning on staying home instead of casting their ballots. The move appeared to work out for the left: Democrats broke Republican supermajorities in lower chambers in Missouri, South Carolina, Ohio and Florida.

Rep. Mike Amyx, the Democratic House assistant minority leader, told the Journal-World that he anticipated a decisive victory on Tuesday, predicting that Democrats will pick up as many as 13 House seats. But he didn’t expect the blue wave to turn into a tsunami.

“I think that’s a lot more than I expected,” he said, referring to the number of seats flipped by Democrats on Tuesday.

Amyx said Tuesday night was as exciting to him as when he was first elected to the House in 2018. “I think it was phenomenal,” he said.

In Douglas County alone, Republican Adam Turk, who represents District 117, joined Sutton in defeat on Tuesday after losing his race to Brandon Holland, a Democrat from Baldwin City, by 134 votes.

“Very excited and encouraged about the results,” said Rep. Brooklynne Mosley, a Democrat representing District 46, on Wednesday. “The Kansas supermajority used its power to keep Kansas back, focusing on targeting trans people, repealing voting rights and refusing to expand Medicaid or raise the minimum wage.”

Wikle, who represents District 10 in Lawrence, said breaking the supermajority “is going to restore a level of balance in the Kansas House of Representatives that is desperately needed in this state.”

“I think the voters spoke loud and clear last night that they want elected representatives to focus on the issues that matter to their everyday lives,” she added.

Some examples Wikle mentioned include bringing down the cost of healthcare and childcare and fully funding public education and special education.

“All of these things (will) have more champions in the House and that’s going to be good for Kansans.”

She said she is looking forward to real, honest, policy conversations and debates around the issues.

Tuesday’s results will also help shift the balance of power in the various House committees — where the bulk of the work is being done. Wikle said she hopes that shift would benefit more Kansans.

“I was really happy this morning,” Wikle said.” When my kids woke up I could tell them that people stood up and said “No.” People used their votes to push back and say, ‘This isn’t how we treat people in this country. These aren’t the things we believe in. And we’re going to do things differently.'”