Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) is projected to win reelection, defeating state Attorney General Derek Schmidt (R).
NBC and CNN have called the race.
Kelly’s win is likely a relief for Democrats. She was seen as one of the most vulnerable incumbent Democratic governors of the cycle, and the nonpartisan Cook Political Report rated the race as a “toss up.”
Republicans believed Kelly to be a prime target to unseat, given the national political environment tilting in the GOP’s favor this cycle and the argument that her win in 2018 was against a weak Republican candidate in Kris Kobach.
But Kelly defied the odds in poll after poll, and ultimately prevailed on Tuesday.