Neelly had 1,628 votes and Steiben 1,602 after all precincts had reported. The unofficial results don’t include provisional ballots, which will be counted during canvassing by the county commission. That takes place during today’s commission meeting, which is set to start at 9 a.m. at the Leavenworth County Courthouse.

Neelly, who has been in office since 2021, defeated Stieben in the 2022 primary by 37 votes (1,237-1,200).

Reynolds wins county commission race, becomes youngest in state

to hold that office

Cody Reynolds will be the next Leavenworth County Commissioner for the Fifth District.

Reynolds led the three-person primary with 1,037 votes or 47% of the vote. Tim Kates had 670 (30%) and David Todd 506 (23%).

He reportedly has become the youngest person to be elected commissioner. Reynolds is 26, and with no opponent in the general election, will be the next Fifth District commissioner.

Joining Reynolds will be Sarah George in the Fourth District and Janet Klasinski in the First District. George had 796 votes (58%) to Tony McNeil’s 588 (42%). In the First District Klasinksi had 665 votes (47%), Robert Owens had 447 (31%) and Lynn Looney 317 (22%).

Leavenworth County will have three women on the board of commissioners for the first time, as George and Klasinski, who have no opponents in teh general election will join Vanessa Reid in January.

Reynolds will replace Stieben, who opted not to run again for county commission so he could run for state representative. George will replace Mike Smith, who did not seek re-election so he could run for lieutenant governor alongside Stacy Rogers for Governor in the Republican primary. The bid was unsuccessful, as Ty Masterson and Jeffrey Klemp won the Republican primary for governor and lieutenant governor.

In the Fifth District, Jeff Culbertson also did not seek re-election.

‘No’ vote wins constitutional amendment question

Kansas will continue its system of selecting Supreme Court judges.

The “no” vote won with 62% Tuesday.

In total, 349,742 voted against the constitutional amendment that would have required judges to run for their seats on the court every six years. Currently, a nine-person nonpartisan commission selects three finalists when a seat opens and then the governor makes a pick from that field. Voters currently decide whether judges should be retained a year after they are appointed and every six years thereafter. Statewide, 227,029 voted for the amendment.

In Leavenworth County, voters agreed with the statewide vote, though by a closer margin. “No” votes were 8,640 (56%) and “yes” votes were 6,804 (44%).

Jefferson County was similar, as there were 2,612 “no” votes (57%) and 1,953 “yes” votes (43%).

In other notable statewide primaries, Ty Masterson won the Republican governor’s primary with 43% of the vote in a seven-person primary (147,213 votes), while Cindy Holscher won the Democratic primary with 108,478 votes (49%) in a three-person race.

For U.S. Senate, Republican incumbent Roger Marshall will face Democratic challenger Adam Hamilton.

Marshall won the GOP primary with 80% (267,972) against challenger Pond Naramore (67,496 votes). Hamilton won a crowded Democratic primary with 35% (76,772). There were 11 candidates in that primary.