With all precincts reporting, Laura Kelly re-elected governor of Kansas

WICHITA, Kan. (KWCH) - Wednesday morning update: With 100 percent of precincts reporting, CNN projects Laura Kelly has been re-elected governor of Kansas.

As of early Wednesday morning, the race had tightened, with Kelly holding a 1-percent lead over Republican challenger Derek Schmidt.

On Twitter, Kelly thanked Kansas for re-electing her to the office and saying, “These next 4 years are about making sure Kansas lives up to its potential as the best place to raise a family. The future is bright.”

Kelly becomes the second Democratic governor elected to a second term in Kansas history. She is also the second woman to be re-elected to the state office.

As late Tuesday night rolls into early Wednesday morning, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly holds a slim lead in her bid to lead the state for another four years. As of midnight, Kelly held an approximate 3% lead over Republican Derek Schmidt, Kansas’ attorney general.

Schmidt has not conceded the governor’s race, waiting on more mail-in ballots to be counted. Schmidt did address supporters late Tuesday night.

“We will unfortunately have to wait a bit longer to get the final verdict. We will get that to you as soon as we can, but we wanted to come down and thank you so much and say a few words of gratitude individually and let everybody go home,” Schmidt said.

In seeking a second term, Kelly touted economic stability and positive feedback from then President Donald Trump in the state’s immediate COVID-19 response and efforts to keep essential businesses going. Her campaign also attacked top challenger Derek Schmidt for his support of former governor Sam Brownback, blamed for digging a financial hole with income tax breaks for businesses.

Kelly said her plan for a second term would be to build on the previous four years in which she’s led Kansas as its governor.

“We’re going to build on all of the successes that we have had,” she said. “We’re going to continue to fund our schools, we’re going to continue to build our roads and our bridges, we’re going to expand broadband all across the state.”

Kelly also said her goal in going for a second term is to push up the elimination of the state’s food sales tax, expand Medicaid and legalize medical marijuana.

Leading up to the election, Schmidt said he and his lieutenant governor, Katie Sawyer, visited about 90 communities in the final two weeks, “looking people in the eyes, sitting down had having a cup of coffee, talking about where things are.”

With some mail-in ballots not yet counted, Schmdit said the race wouldn’t be called Tuesday night.

“We will unfortunately have to wait a bit longer to get the final verdict. We will get that to you as soon as we can, but we wanted to come down and thank you so much and say a few words of gratitude individually and let everybody go home,” Schmidt said.

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