The 2010 United States Senate election in Kansas took place on November 2, 2010, alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Senator Sam Brownback did not seek a third full term, but instead successfully ran for Governor of Kansas.
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County results Moran: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Johnston: 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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Fellow Republican and representative Jerry Moran won the open seat. This was the first open-seat United States Senate election in Kansas for this seat since 1968.[a]
Sam Brownback was first elected to the Senate in 1996, replacing Bob Dole, 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 is one of the most Republican states in the nation; no Democrat has been elected to either Senate seat since 1932.
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.[5][6]
Poll source | Dates administered | Todd Tiahrt | Jerry Moran |
---|---|---|---|
Research 2000 | February 2–4, 2009 | 24% | 19% |
Survey USA | April 17–19, 2009 | 35% | 39% |
Survey USA | June 12–14, 2009 | 38% | 40% |
Survey USA | October 2–4, 2009 | 27% | 43% |
Survey USA | December 4–6, 2009 | 34% | 37% |
Survey USA | January 29–31, 2010 | 33% | 40% |
Survey USA | March 26–28, 2010 | 32% | 42% |
Survey USA | May 21–23, 2010 | 29% | 52% |
Survey USA | June 24–27, 2010 | 33% | 53% |
Survey USA | July 15–18, 2010 | 36% | 50% |
Survey USA | July 29 – August 1, 2010 | 39% | 49% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Jerry Moran | 161,407 | 49.8% | |
Republican | Todd Tiahrt | 144,372 | 44.6% | |
Republican | Tom Little | 10,104 | 3.1% | |
Republican | Bob Londerholm | 8,168 | 2.5% | |
Total votes | 324,051 | 100.00% |
Poll source | Dates administered | Charles Schollenberger | Lisa Johnston | Robert Conroy | David Haley | Undecided |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Survey USA | June 24–27, 2010 | 16% | 24% | 11% | 11% | 35% |
Survey USA | July 15–18, 2010 | 14% | 23% | 7% | 12% | 36% |
Survey USA | July 29 – August 1, 2010 | 21% | 29% | 7% | 12% | 25% |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Lisa Johnston | 25,421 | 31.2% | |
Democratic | Charles Schollenberger | 19,228 | 23.6% | |
Democratic | David Haley | 15,584 | 19.2% | |
Democratic | Patrick Wiesner | 13,359 | 16.4% | |
Democratic | Robert Conroy | 7,779 | 9.6% | |
Total votes | 81,371 | 100.00% |
Kansas is a very red state, where no Democrat has won a U.S. Senate election since 1932.[14] 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 and Douglas County, while Moran won statewide by a landslide.[15]
The two never met for a debate.[16]
Source | Ranking | As of |
---|---|---|
Cook Political Report[17] | Solid R | October 26, 2010 |
Rothenberg[18] | Safe R | October 22, 2010 |
RealClearPolitics[19] | Safe R | October 26, 2010 |
Sabato's Crystal Ball[20] | Safe R | October 21, 2010 |
CQ Politics[21] | Safe R | October 26, 2010 |
Poll source | Date(s) administered | Jerry Moran | Lisa Johnston |
---|---|---|---|
Rasmussen Reports | May 11, 2010 | 61% | 25% |
Rasmussen Reports | June 30, 2010 | 59% | 23% |
Rasmussen Reports | August 4, 2010 | 61% | 28% |
Survey USA | August 12–15, 2010 | 69% | 23% |
Survey USA | September 14–16, 2010 | 66% | 24% |
Survey USA | October 10–12, 2010 | 67% | 27% |
Survey USA | October 22–26, 2010 | 66% | 26% |
Candidate (party) | Receipts | Disbursements | Cash on hand | Debt |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lisa Johnston (D) | $10,627 | $4,530 | $6,096 | $1,131 |
Jerry Moran (R) | $2,749,244 | $4,497,168 | $795,015 | $0 |
Source: Federal Election Commission[22] |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Jerry Moran | 587,175 | 70.09% | +0.93% | |
Democratic | Lisa Johnston | 220,971 | 26.38% | -1.11% | |
Libertarian | Michael Dann | 17,922 | 2.14% | +0.21% | |
Reform | Joe Bellis | 11,624 | 1.39% | -0.03% | |
Total votes | 837,692 | 100.0% | |||
Republican hold |