Post last updated at 10:18 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4:
Newcomers Mike Courtney and Kristine Polian won the race for Lawrence City Commission, and incumbents Shannon Kimball and Kelly Jones held strong to their Lawrence school board seats Tuesday night. The third school board seat was too close to call.
Four candidates, narrowed in the Aug. 5 primary, ran for the two Lawrence City Commission seats. Courtney, Polian, former commissioner Bob Schumm, and incumbent Bart Littlejohn faced off.
Newcomers ChrisTopher Niles Enneking, Matt Lancaster, Pam Shaw and Molly Starr challenged incumbents Bob Byers, Jones and Kimball in the race for three Lawrence school board seats.
Don’t miss a beat … Click here to sign up for our email newsletters
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
With all precincts reporting on election night, Lancaster and Beyers were neck and neck in the race for the third open school board seat.
Here are the results with all precincts reporting:
Some Lawrence voters at the polls Tuesday pushed against the potential return of current and past public officials, others appreciated those with experience.
Lawrence City Commission
Courtney said the election results show people want city commissioners who will push back on ways the city is becoming unaffordable, with housing becoming increasingly expensive and fees to use recreation centers set to be implemented in January.
“Tonight, the people of Lawrence have spoken in a clear and decisive voice that they want leaders who will focus on making this city more affordable for all of its citizens; that we need fiscal responsibility around our budget and our taxes; that housing should be available for first-time home owners, and that the Rec Centers, the hallmarks and jewels of this community, should continue to be free for all people to use, regardless of their economic station,” he said in a statement.
Support local news
Please subscribe to support The Lawrence Times so we can keep doing this work.
Polian said the results were what she hoped for. She said she was incredibly grateful to the community, and that she will work tirelessly alongside the other commissioners to affect change “so we can get on a better path.”
She said she was glad to see Courtney leading the race, and felt voting patterns reflected residents’ desire to see change.
“You have two people that the majority of the community does not even know, and they are ahead of a sitting commissioner and a past commissioner,” she said. “That speaks volumes to what this community is looking for, which is changing.”
Polian’s platform prioritized strong management of city funds to negate debt and support economic development, while fostering transparency to improve public trust of government officials.
The results represent a significant reversal from the primaries, when voters favored incumbents for city commission.
In August, Schumm led with 2,394 votes. The second-place contender, Littlejohn, had 2,012 — just three votes more than Polian.
Schumm said he campaigned on his prior experience on the commission, which he said is hard to get and takes years to learn. He said he’s content regardless of who’s elected.
“It’s over one way or another, and I’ll be happy for that, because it’s been a long haul,” Schumm said. “We ran a good campaign. I like the fact that the four of us all worked well together. There was no backbiting or anything like that.”
Littlejohn, who was elected in 2021, could not be reached for comment.
Lawrence school board
Kimball, Jones and Lancaster were endorsed by the Lawrence Education Association, the district’s union representing both teachers and education support professionals.
Kimball said she felt like her years serving on the board and advocating at the state level resonated with voters. She thanked her family and others who supported her campaign and said she hopes to push the district forward amid challenges, including funding uncertainties.
“It really will require experience and knowledge to navigate that,” Kimball said. “And certainly that was really the basis of my campaign.”
Jones, who’s served on the board eight years, said one of her main focuses moving forward is to reach a living wage for all employed by the district. She decided to run for reelection to support the district, and its new superintendent, as it faces state and federal funding cuts, she said.
“I’ve enjoyed everyone I’ve worked with,” Jones said. “The particular chemistry we have right now on the board is, in my opinion, very strong. We don’t all agree with each other. We have a lot of different perspectives, but I respect everyone there, and we have a nice way of disagreeing, which is really helpful when you’re trying to make big decisions.”
Too close to call
The county elections office will continue counting mail ballots received through Friday as long as they were postmarked by Tuesday. Election results will not be final and official until after the canvass on Monday, Nov. 17.
The candidate elected to the third Lawrence school board seat might not be determined until then.
Lancaster said it was “super tense” to be ahead of Byers by 33 votes Tuesday night. He said he thinks there’s a lot of wisdom and experience on the board, but he said he hopes his experience as an educator and administrator spoke to voters and made a connection.
He said he appreciated folks taking the time to vote, whether it was for him or not, and he thinks local elections are the most important, affecting people’s day-to-day lives.
Byers thanked his supporters. During his current appointed term on the board, Byers said he’s proud to have hired the new superintendent and worked on “downsizing, or right-sizing” to improve the district’s finances.
Nonconsecutively, he’s served a total of seven and a half years on the board, and he plans to build on his several years of community involvement with the district whether he is reelected or not.
“The good thing about this election is you couldn’t really make a bad choice,” Byers said. “I think all of the candidates were unique, and I think each one of them would have brought something different to the board. That’s what the elections are about.”
Around 11.7% of registered Lawrence voters cast a ballot in the 2025 city primary election — more than average, as city-level primaries typically end up around 10%.
As of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, turnout was at 16.43%, according to the elections office. That increased to 24.2% with all precincts reporting Tuesday night and will likely continue to increase as more ballots arrive over the next few days.
City commissioners are elected to four-year terms and paid about $22,000 per year. School board members are elected to four-year terms that are unpaid, volunteer positions.
— Reporters Wulfe Wulfemeyer, Maya Hodison and Cuyler Dunn contributed to this article.
If local news matters to you, please help us keep doing this work.
Don’t miss a beat — get the latest news from the Times delivered to your inbox:
Click here to learn more about our newsletters first
This post is by the Lawrence Times news team.
If you have news tips, questions, comments, concerns, compliments or corrections for our team, please reach out and let us know what’s on your mind. Email us at Hello@LawrenceKSTimes.com (don’t forget the KS!), or find more contact info and a quick contact form at LawrenceKSTimes.com/contact.
Follow us so you won’t miss the local news that matters most to you:
More Election 2025 coverage:
Molly Adams / Lawrence TimesNewcomers win Lawrence City Commission race; incumbents hold 2 school board seats
Latest Lawrence news:
Molly Adams / Lawrence Times
August Rudisell/Lawrence Times
Courtesy of Theatre Lawrence
