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 a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

in other states as well as elections to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

and various state and local elections. Incumbent Senator

Sam Brownback Samuel Dale Brownback (born September 12, 1956) is an American attorney, politician, and diplomat who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011 and as the List of governors of Kansas, 46th governor of K ...

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

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

. Fellow Republican and representative

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 Senato ...

won the open seat. This was the first open-seat United States Senate election in Kansas for this seat since

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

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 Party leaders of the United States Senate, Republican Leader of th ...

, 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 landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

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

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. Kris Kobach assumed the office on January 9, 2023. Divisions * Administration Division * Civil Division * ...

, 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

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 (Kansas City, Kansas / eastern Wyandotte County) since 2001. From 1995 to 2001, he was a Kansas Representative. He ran unsuccess ...

, state senator and nominee for Secretary of State in 2002 and 2006 * Lisa Johnston, administrator at

Baker University Baker University is a private university in Baldwin City, Kansas, United States. 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. Th ...

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

Polling

Results

General election

Candidates

Major

(R), U.S. Representative
campaign sitePVS

FEC
* Lisa Johnston (D), Baker University administrator
campaign sitePVS

FEC

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 US states whose voters vote predominantly for one party—the Republican Party in red states and the Democratic Party in blue ...

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

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

Debates

The two never met for a debate.

Predictions

Polling

Fundraising

Results

Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

(largest city:

Lawrence Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

)

Notes

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 an American 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 offic ...

Kansas U.S. Senate
from OurCampaigns.com
Campaign contributions
from Open Secrets
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'', or ''CQ'', is an American publication that is part of the privately owned publishing company CQ Roll Call, which covers the United States Congress. ''CQ'' was formerly acquired by the U.K.-based The Economist Group, ...

Race profile
from

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

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 a ...

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

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

, 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 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...