The 2010 United States Senate election in Kansas took place on November 2, 2010, alongside other elections to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

in other states as well as elections to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, diplomat, and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who served as the United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Fr ...

did not seek a third term, but instead successfully ran for

Governor of Kansas A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

. Republican nominee

Jerry Moran Gerald Wesley Moran ( ; born May 29, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who is the senior United States senator from Kansas, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he was chair of the National Republican Senat ...

won the open seat.

Background

Sam Brownback was first elected to the Senate in 1996, replacing

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Republican Leader of the Senate during the final 11 years of his te ...

, who resigned to run for President. Brownback stated that he would not run for re-election in 2010 because of self-imposed term limits.

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

is one of the most Republican states in the nation; no Democrat has been elected to either Senate seat since 1932.

Democratic primary

Candidates

* Robert Conroy, retired railroad employee *

David Haley David B. Haley (born October 29, 1958) is a Democratic member of the Kansas Senate, representing the 4th district since 2001. From 1995 to 2001, he was a Kansas Representative. He ran unsuccessfully for Kansas Secretary of State in 2002 and 20 ...

, state senator * Lisa Johnston, administrator at

Baker University Baker University is a private university in Baldwin City, Kansas. Founded in 1858, it was the first four-year university in Kansas and is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Baker University is made up of four schools. The College of Art ...

* Charles Schollenberger, retired communications executive * Patrick Wiesner, attorney and CPA

Polling

Results

Republican primary

Candidates

* Tom Little, accountant * Bob Londerholm, former

Attorney General of Kansas The Attorney General of Kansas is a statewide elected official responsible for providing legal services to the state government of Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city i ...

, U.S. Representative *

Todd Tiahrt William Todd Tiahrt ( ; born June 15, 1951) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1995 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected as part of the historic Republican Wave of 1994, defeating 18-ye ...

, U.S. Representative

Campaign

The retirement of Brownback, a popular U.S. Senator, led to a heavily competitive primary election. Tiahrt, who was on the Committee of Appropriations, had been accused of excessive earmarking while he was in Congress. From 2006 to 2008, Tiahrt had requested and supported a total of 63 solo earmarks, costing $53.9 million. In the same period, Moran had requested and supported a total of 29 earmarks, with a pricetag of $13.4 million.

Endorsements

Moran

Tiahrt

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

Major

(R), U.S. Representative
campaign sitePVSFEC
* Lisa Johnston (D), Baker University administrator
campaign sitePVSFEC

Minor

* Michael Dann (L)
campaign sitePVS
* Joe Bellis (RE)
campaign sitePVS

Campaign

Kansas is a very

red state Starting with the 2000 United States presidential election, the terms "red state" and "blue state" have referred to U.S. states whose voters vote predominantly for one party — the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in b ...

, where no Democrat has won a U.S. Senate election since 1932. After the primary, Moran chose not to release any more negative advertisements. Democrat Lisa Johnston ran a low-profile, quiet race. On election day, she won only two counties:

Wyandotte County Wyandotte County (; county code WY) is a county in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 169,245, making it Kansas's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat and most populous city is Kansas City, with which ...

and Douglas County, while Moran won statewide by a landslide.

Debates

The two never met for a debate.

Predictions

Polling

Fundraising

Results

References

External links

Kansas Secretary of State - Elections & Legislative

U.S. Congress candidates for Kansas
at

Project Vote Smart Vote Smart, formerly called Project Vote Smart, is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization that collects and distributes information on candidates for public office in the United States. It covers candidates and elected officials in si ...

Kansas U.S. Senate
from OurCampaigns.com
Campaign contributions
from

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2010 Kansas Senate General Election: Jerry Moran (R) vs Lisa Johnston (D)
graph of multiple polls from ''Pollster.com''
Election 2010: Kansas Senate
from

Rasmussen Reports Rasmussen Reports is an American polling company founded in 2003. The company engages in political commentary and the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information. Rasmussen Reports conducts nightly tracking, ...

2010 Kansas Senate Race
from

CQ Politics Congressional Quarterly, Inc., or CQ, is part of a privately owned publishing company called CQ Roll Call that produces a number of publications reporting primarily on the United States Congress. CQ was acquired by the Economist Group and combine ...

Race profile
from

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

News coverage
from ''The Midwest Democracy Project'' at

The Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and as ...

;Official candidate sites (Archived) ;Debates
Kansas Senate Republican Primary Debate

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

, July 6, 2010
Lisa Johnston for U.S. Senate

Jerry Moran for U.S. Senate

Charles Schollenberger for U.S. Senate

Todd Tiahrt for U.S. Senate
{{United States general elections, 2010 2010 Kansas elections

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...