ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
If voters across Kansas would have followed Marion County’s lead in last Tuesday’s general election, Tim Shallenburger would be the state’s new governor and Phill Kline would be the fairly clear winner in the attorney general’s race.
Republican candidates were preferred by local voters in all races for state office. Across the state, though, Democrat Kathleen Sebelius won the race for govenor by a margin of 53 percent to 45 percent over Shallenburger.
As of Monday, no winner was yet declared in the attorney general’s race, though Kline had an unofficial lead of about 3,000 votes out of almost 81,000 votes cast.
In a race that generated some local activism, conservative Republican Iris Van Meter defeated incumbent Val DeFever for the State Board of Education seat from District 9. DeFever was conducting a write-in campaign after losing to Van Meter in the primary.
Statewide, Van Meter won, 70 percent to 30 percent. In Marion County, the breakdown was almost identical.
About 53 percent of Marion County’s registered voters cast ballots-which was a higher turnout than expected.
