11NOV

Chris Mann ousts Kris Kobach in Kansas

3 min read

18:10UTC

Democrat Chris Mann beat Attorney General Kris Kobach 50.62% to 49.38%, and Kansas counties are hand-counting six races decided within a point.

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Key takeaway

Kris Kobach lost the Kansas attorney general's office to Democrat Chris Mann by just over a point.

The Associated Press called Kansas's attorney general race for Chris Mann, the Democrat, on Friday 6 November, 552,753 votes (50.62%) to 539,297 (49.38%) for Attorney General Kris Kobach at 99% reporting, KCUR, Kansas City's public radio station, reported⁠¹. Kobach beat Mann by about 17,000 when they first met in 2022. He has long pushed for voters to prove citizenship with documents before they can register, and now loses the office that litigates Kansas election law. Mann takes it in January, while the Supreme Court weighs the same requirement, among other questions, in RNC v. Mi Familia Vota.

Mann's race was one of six that Secretary of State Scott Schwab sent to hand-count audits on Wednesday 4 November, under section 25-3009 of the Kansas Statutes, which covers races "decided by 1% or less of the total votes cast" in unofficial results⁠². Counties hand-count ballots from 10% of precincts in each race, at least one per county, and compare the totals with the machines, "in addition to the routine post-election audit". The six are governor, secretary of state, attorney general and Kansas House Districts 27, 40 and 117. All three statewide offices that run, certify and litigate Kansas elections were decided within a point.

Johnson County hand-counted about 125,000 of its roughly 300,000 ballots on Monday 9 November, which election commissioner Connie Schmidt called the biggest audit Kansas has done, Kansas City station KCTV5 reported⁠³. Wyandotte County finished the same day, and an official there said previous audits had all matched. Every county must finish by Monday 16 November.

In the governor's race, left uncalled on polling night, Cindy Holscher, a Democratic state senator, leads Ty Masterson, the Republican president of the Kansas Senate, by about 0.6 points, between roughly 5,500 and 7,300 votes depending on the tally cited⁠⁴. Holscher has declared victory and Governor Laura Kelly has congratulated her⁠⁵. Masterson has not conceded: "Every Kansan deserves to know the result is right"⁠⁶. The State Board of Canvassers certifies by Tuesday 1 December.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Kansas chose a new attorney general, the state's chief lawyer, and the Democrat Chris Mann beat the Republican incumbent, Kris Kobach, who had beaten him four years earlier. Kansas has a rule that any race decided by a very small margin must be counted again by hand. Six races qualify this year, including the race for governor. County officials are working through the paper ballots now. The results become official when a state panel certifies them by 1 December.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

Kansas's close-race audit rule sends every race decided by 1% or less to a hand count, regardless of whether a candidate asks. Three statewide offices and three Kansas House districts crossed that line at once, so the counties face six hand counts in parallel.

The attorney general's office represents the state in election law cases. Its change of party moves control of Kansas's defence of its own election rules from Kobach, a national figure on proof-of-citizenship laws, to a Democrat.

What could happen next?

Consequence
Mann will take over Kansas's defence of its proof-of-citizenship and election laws in January, which may change the state's position in pending cases.
Risk
A Masterson refusal to concede after the hand count would leave the governorship disputed up to the 1 December certification.

Source Landscape

This story draws on neutral-leaning sources

Primary parallel: In the August 2018 Kansas Republican primary for governor, Kobach, then secretary of state, led Governor Jeff Colyer by a few hundred votes while his own office oversaw the count. He recused himself from the process under pressure, and Colyer conceded on 14 August 2018, the Associated Press reported.

Counter-parallel: After Kansas voters rejected the Value Them Both abortion amendment in August 2022, a hand recount requested by Melissa Leach in nine counties left the result unchanged, the Kansas Secretary of State's office reported. Hand counts in Kansas have confirmed results rather than reversed them.

Consensus view: Verified Voting, the audit advocacy group where Mark Lindeman directs policy, favours risk-limiting audits, which hand-check a statistical sample until the reported winner is confirmed. Kansas instead hand-counts every ballot in a race decided by 1% or less, which costs far more labour but needs no statistics to explain to a losing candidate.

Counter-view: The logic of section 25-3009, which Secretary of State Scott Schwab applied on 4 November, is that at margins this thin only a full hand count persuades the losing side. Johnson County's 125,000 ballots in a single day show that the burden is real but manageable.

Key tension: Whether a full hand count of the governor's race, where Cindy Holscher's lead sits near 0.6 points, will be enough for Masterson to concede before the State Board of Canvassers meets.

First Reported In

Update #24 · Late ballots flip North Carolina's 3rd

KCUR· 11 Nov 2026

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Causes and effects

Caused by

Hamilton beats Marshall 50.9% to 46.0%

The governor's race left uncalled on polling night went into Kansas's close-race hand-count audit.

Occurred 3 Nov 2026

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This Event

Chris Mann ousts Kris Kobach in Kansas

Kansas's three statewide election offices were all decided within a point, and the office that defends Kansas election law passes from Kris Kobach to a Democrat.

Different Perspectives

University of Florida Election Lab

The lab, run by Michael McDonald, estimates about 124.3 million ballots, a raw midterm record, and turnout of about 49.4% of eligible voters, second to 2018's 50.05%. The raw record reflects population growth more than a record rate, so the late count is working through a near-2018 electorate.

Thune's critics on the right, including Senator Ron Johnson

Ron Johnson backed the failed 31-15 motion to delay Thune's re-election, after activists such as Mike Cernovich blamed the leader for the defeat. Their complaint is that Republicans could have passed the SAVE Act; in January it meets a Democratic Senate instead.

Senator John Thune

Thune was re-elected Senate Republican leader by acclamation on 10 November after a motion to delay failed 31-15. He kept the filibuster that stopped the SAVE Act, the choice his critics on the right blame for the defeat.

House Republicans under Jim Jordan

House Republicans elected Jordan minority leader by 106 votes to 73 over Steve Scalise on 10 November, after Speaker Mike Johnson declined to run. They replaced the leadership that lost the majority, while Senate Republicans kept theirs.

Donald Trump

Trump asked on Truth Social on 9 November whether anybody believed the election "was honest" and blamed the machines, having told The New York Times on polling night he would accept the results. No Republican campaign had sued over a 2026 result by 10 November, so the claim has no case behind it.

Judge David O. Carter

Carter closed the Justice Department's suit over about 20,000 California mail ballots on 10 November after the department withdrew it, writing that the suit "attempted to disrupt an ongoing election". The closure leaves the department with no court order touching a 2026 California ballot.

Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.