KS-SEN: Kansas Republicans could try to delay election for U.S. Senate if Roger Marshall leaves office

TOPEKA — A Republican-conceived law usurping Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s discretion when filling vacancies in certain Kansas statewide elective offices could complicate the competitive race for U.S. Senate.

Candidates and political observers wonder whether Kansas Republicans could attempt to avoid holding an election for U.S. Senate this year by having the incumbent, Republican Roger Marshall, resign from office to take a position with President Donald Trump’s administration. The power play would raise constitutional questions.

The catalyst for this fear is a 2025 law requiring vacancies for U.S. Senate, state treasurer and state insurance commissioner to be filled by Kansas governors by choosing from a list of finalists endorsed by the full Legislature or a 12-person GOP-controlled legislative committee. A governor of Kansas in the past could immediately and unilaterally choose a person to temporarily fill these jobs pending an election, but the new law limited the governor’s options to members of the former officeholder’s party.

In addition, the same state law says if the vacancy were created after May 1 in an even-number year, such as 2026, the appointed replacement wouldn’t go before voters in an election until “two years following the year in which such vacancy occurs.” A simple reading of this Kansas statute — in isolation from the U.S. Constitution — suggests appointees chosen to fill these jobs this fall would avoid facing voters until 2028.



https://kansasreflector.com/2026/06/17/kansas-republicans-could-try-to-delay-election-for-u-s-senate-if-roger-marshall-leaves-office/