photo by: Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector

Wichita Republican Dan Hawkins, right, was nominated by GOP peers to serve the next two years as speaker of the Kansas House — the top management position in the chamber. The leadership appointments for Republicans and Democrats won't be final until the Legislature convenes Jan. 13.

TOPEKA — Politicians elected to serve in the Kansas House in the 2025 legislative session endorsed Monday retention of three top Republicans in leadership posts and the nomination of a Democrat to assume responsibility for shepherding the minority party.

Returning House members and newcomers broke into partisan caucuses to debate the leadership decisions almost certain to be affirmed once members of the 125-person chamber formally take office Jan. 13.

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, was nominated to hold the No. 1 position in the House for another two-year term. No one was nominated to challenge Hawkins, who took over the position in 2023.

“Speaker Hawkins has been ultra-successful in leading our caucus with significant outcomes for the people of Kansas,” said Rep. Susan Humphries, a Wichita Republican who nominated him. “He has proven himself to be an effective collaborator with the Senate, and we know that is important if we’re going to get our agenda accomplished.”

She said Hawkins was a good listener, a “man of faith” and someone with an “open demeanor.” It shouldn’t be lost on Republicans that Hawkins’ assisted many of them during successful campaigns for the House that also resulted in expansion of the GOP’s supermajority, she said.

“Dan is not all about Dan,” Humphries said. “He cares. He strategies. He leads. But it isn’t all about him. We need to proceed carefully with humility, vision, wisdom, experience and courage.”

The slate of Republican candidates for leadership positions included incumbent House Majority Leader Chris Croft of Overland Park and incumbent House Speaker Pro Tempore Blake Carpenter of Derby. Croft and Carpenter were nominated by acclimation by GOP colleagues, because no one stepped forward to challenge them.

Meanwhile, Rep. Kyle Hoffman of Coldwater was selected to serve as assistant House majority leader. He was nominated to fill the shoes of the late Rep. Les Mason, a McPherson lawmaker who died in June. Hoffman survived a 44-42 showdown with a second nominee, Hays Republican Rep. Barb Wasinger.

In a separate meeting at the Capitol, House Democrats moved to replace retiring Rep. Vic Miller of Topeka by choosing between two candidates for House minority leader. Democrats selected Lenexa Rep. Brandon Woodard, a 34-year-old representative who entered the Legislature in 2019.

“Like so many Kansans, I’ve lived through the very struggles facing them every day, and that they’re counting on us to address for them. I’m the free- and reduced-lunch student from Topeka. I grew up in a hardworking, but low-income, family who knows what it’s like to choose between paying rent and buying groceries,” Woodard said.

He said it would be daunting for Democrats to grapple with a widened supermajority. Republicans gained three seats in the House in the November elections for an 88-37 advantage.

“I look forward to working with each of you to tell your story, to empower your voice and to elevate issues that uniquely impact your communities,” Woodard said. “We will work together to come together to create momentum for good policy, but we will have to unite to build opposition to the worst of what will come before us”

Woodard defeated by a 2-to-1 majority Rep. Stephanie Sawyer Clayton, an Overland Park Democrat with a decade of experience in the Legislature.

Clayton said Democrats would be responsible in the House for “holding the line here at home to protect the people.”

“They will soon face an onslaught against their economic freedom, their right to a public education, and fair rights and protections as workers. We are the ones who will stand together to protect these rights here in Kansas,” she said.

— Tim Carpenter and Sherman Smith are journalists with the Kansas Reflector, a Topeka-based news service.