Kelly won reelection, but close legislative races and amendment vote will determine her power

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has won reelection, but it remains unclear just how much power she’ll have to pursue her agenda in her second term as a constitutional amendment and several key state legislative races remain too close to call.

The most closely contested statewide race in Kansas is the 50% to 50% vote on constitutional amendment that would grant the Legislature authority to block rules and regulations issued by the governor’s administration.

“No” votes held a slight edge of roughly 6,000 votes as Wednesday afternoon. But that margin could change as an unknown number of provisional ballots are considered by county election offices and late-arriving mail ballots are processed. Kansas will accept postmarked ballots through Monday and roughly 29,000 remained outstanding as of Wednesday.

Simultaneously, seven Kansas House races remained within 200 votes as final ballots are tallied. If current vote counts hold, Democrats will pick up one seat but Republicans will maintain a veto-proof majority in the chamber.

Both situations present powerful potential checks on Kelly’s power. In her first term, the Republican supermajority consistently passed legislation over her veto. The ability to override Kelly reduced the need for GOP leadership to negotiate with the Democratic governor.

The amendment, if passed, would provide an additional check on Kelly even if the supermajority falls. It would implement a so-called “legislative veto,” which has been sought by Republicans and businesses as a way for the GOP-controlled Legislature to clear away state regulations they oppose.

Lawmakers who support the amendment have argued it was needed to keep bureaucrats from straying from legislative intent when crafting rules and regulations. Business lobbying groups, including the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, campaigned for the amendment as a way to reduce the regulatory burden on Kansas’ businesses.

But Democrats and some lobbyists painted the amendment as a Republican power grab. Zack Pistora, a lobbyist for the Kansas Sierra Club, has said he expects lawmakers to reduce or eliminate regulations designed to protect the environment.

The vote on the the amendment comes just months after voters rejected a different amendment that would have given lawmakers additional power. In August, voters decisively rejected a proposal that would have allowed the Legislature to severely restrict or ban abortion.

Under current law, Kansas legislators can undo administrative rules and regulations by passing laws making the regulations illegal. The law requires a majority of the Kansas House and Senate as well as a signature from the governor or a veto proof majority.

But the proposed amendment would allow lawmakers to bypass the governor’s approval and strip away regulations with a simple majority. The amendment would allow the Legislature to revoke or suspend rules and regulations by governors of either party but effectively will enhance Republican authority.

The Kansas Legislature has been dominated by Republicans for decades. Democrats have not held a majority in either chamber since the 1992 election. Meanwhile, the governor’s office changes party hands regularly in Kansas. Democrats have held the office for 14 of the last 30 years.

Kansans also overwhelmingly approved a constitutional amendment to require 104 of Kansas’ 105 counties to continue electing their sheriffs, removing the option for counties to shift to an appointed or consolidated system. The sheriffs amendment passed by a vote of 62% to 38%