One week after the primary election concluded, so too has the race for the Republican nomination for Kansas governor.
At a news conference Tuesday evening, Gov. Jeff Colyer conceded the race to his opponent Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
Colyer says he phoned Kobach Tuesday to give his full support moving forward.
Colyer’s announcement came just hours after results of Johnson County’s canvass pushed Kobach to a 345 vote advantage over Colyer. Kobach has received 128,543 votes compared to Colyer’s 128,198. At a news conference earlier Tuesday, Kobach called for unity in the Republican party and that he was ready to begin the campaign toward November.
Kobach also tweeted a thank you to Colyer for his endorsement.
Thank you Governor Colyer for your gracious call this evening offering your endorsement to #TeamKobach for Kansas Governor. I look forward to working with Governor Colyer and all Republicans to keep Kansas red in November! #ksleg #ksgov #MAGA #MKGA pic.twitter.com/Kk10LrbAK1
— Kris W. Kobach (@KrisKobach1787) August 15, 2018
Kobach, who also has the endorsement of President Donald Trump, will take on Democrat Laura Kelly and Independent Greg Orman in November to become the next governor of Kansas.
5:00 p.m. Tuesday
Canvassing for the primary election continued in many counties across the state Tuesday including Morris County as all eyes remain on the Republican race for governor.
In Morris County Gov. Jeff Colyer added nine votes to his tally bringing him from 370 votes on Election Night to 379 votes total. Secretary of State Kris Kobach earned an additional seven votes bringing him up from 318 to 325 votes in Morris County. Elsewhere, Ken Selzer picked up four additional votes, Jim Barnett picked up three, while Patrick Kucera and Tyler Ruzich each picked up one additional vote.
In Johnson County, the state’s most populous county, Colyer picked up 301 additional votes while Kobach gained 325 votes there. Kobach now leads Colyer overall by 345 votes statewide with 128,543 votes to Colyer’s 128,198 as of late Tuesday afternoon.
Lyon and all surrounding counties with the exception of Wabaunsee County have now canvassed their votes. Wabaunsee County will canvass on Aug. 20.
To see up to the minute vote totals, visit the Secretary of State’s unofficial results page.
