Article last updated at 11:05 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 4:
Attendees at the Douglas County Democrats’ watch party in downtown Lawrence celebrated the failure of a proposed constitutional amendment as well as local candidates’ successes.
Incumbent Suzanne Wikle won with 78% of the vote against challenger T.J. Campsey in the Democratic primary for the Kansas House District 10 seat. The district includes parts of central, eastern and southeastern Lawrence.
“These results show that voters understand I have done a good job representing the values of this district and community,” Wikle said. “This just reinforces that I’m the one they want representing them. This job is the honor of my career, and I will keep working hard to bring their concerns and values to Topeka.”
Barring highly unusual circumstances, the primary election will decide the candidate who will be elected to the seat as no other candidate is running for the seat with another party.
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The proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot would have changed the way that Kansas Supreme Court justices are appointed, from a nominating commission system to direct election.
All Douglas County precincts have been counted, but some results continued to roll in for the amendment vote statewide as of the final update on this article.
Watch party attendees erupted in cheers after early results from the New York Times had vote “no” in the lead for the amendment.
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With all of Douglas County precincts reporting, vote “no” led with 84% of the vote. Statewide, the vote was about 62% “no” to 38% “yes” as of 11 p.m. Tuesday.
Douglas County Democrats Chair Melinda Lavon said she was not surprised by a majority of Douglas County voters voting “no,” but said she had been “pretty nervous” for statewide results.
“I was coming in tonight pretty bummed about the amendment, and I am actually so ecstatic about it,” Lavon said. “I think that we don’t want partisan politics in our court system.”
Kansas House District 10 seat
Wikle was first elected in 2024. In her first term, she sponsored and passed a bill to make Narcan more accessible, offered an amendment for Medicaid expansion and pushed back against attacks on workers’ rights. Wikle’s goals now that she’s set to be reelected include healthcare affordability and Medicaid expansion, tackling cost of living issues, and childcare and education affordability.
Campsey is a local political organizer and a brewer. If elected, his goals were to expand Kancare, or Medicaid, for all and to create both a Democratic and Labor Bill of Rights, which he said would expand worker rights and put restrictions on gerrymandering.
Campsey could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.
Read Campsey and Wikle’s responses to a questionnaire about their campaigns at this link.
Constitutional amendment
A vote of “yes” on the amendment favored direct election of justices. A vote of “no” rejected the proposed amendment in favor of the current nomination system of appointing justices.
Learn more about the constitutional amendment at this link.
See complete statewide results via the Kansas secretary of state’s website at this link.
Overall, 57.4% of Douglas County voters cast their ballots in the Aug. 2, 2022 election, which was the last time there was a constitutional amendment on the primary ballot.
The county clerk’s office sent out a report showing that, as of 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 23,014 county residents had voted. That’s about 29% of the total 80,202 residents who are registered to vote in Douglas County. By the final election night totals, turnout was at 40.6%.
Douglas County election results will not be final and certified until after the canvass, which is set for Monday, Aug. 17.
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Maya Smith (she/her), reporting intern, has worked with The Lawrence Times since February 2026. She was born and raised in Lawrence and is a journalism student at the University of Kansas. She works at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications as a communications assistant and has been a freelance reporter for the Kansas Reflector since 2024. Read her work for the Times at this link.
More coverage: Election 2026
Jacob Rice / Lawrence Times
