KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly was statistically the most vulnerable incumbent governor in the nation heading into the 2022 election.
She was the only Democrat seeking reelection in a state former President Donald Trump carried in 2020. An overwhelmingly Republican electorate, Kansas voters not only sought to keep Trump in the White House, they did so by a 15 point margin.
Her narrow victory over Attorney General Derek Schmidt, which came on the heels of Kansans’ decisive vote in favor of abortion rights, has now placed the 72-year-old governor and self described policy wonk in the national spotlight.