# 2010 United States Senate election in Kansas

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The 2010 United States Senate election in Kansas took place on November 2, 2010, alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Senator Sam Brownback did not seek a third full term, but instead successfully ran for Governor of Kansas.
Fellow Republican and representative Jerry Moran won the open seat. This was the first open-seat United States Senate election in Kansas for this seat since 1968.

## Background

Sam Brownback was first elected to the Senate in 1996, replacing Bob Dole, who resigned to run for President. Brownback stated that he would not run for re-election in 2010 because of self-imposed term limits. Kansas is one of the most Republican states in the nation; no Democrat has been elected to either Senate seat since 1932.

## Republican primary
### Candidates

* Tom Little, accountant
* Bob Londerholm, former Attorney General of Kansas
* Jerry Moran, U.S. Representative
* Todd Tiahrt, U.S. Representative

### Campaign

The retirement of Brownback, a popular U.S. Senator, led to a heavily competitive primary election. Tiahrt, who was on the Committee of Appropriations, had been accused of excessive earmarking while he was in Congress. From 2006 to 2008, Tiahrt had requested and supported a total of 63 solo earmarks, costing $53.9 million. In the same period, Moran had requested and supported a total of 29 earmarks, with a pricetag of $13.4 million.

### Endorsements
#### Moran

* U.S. Senator Richard Burr of North Carolina
* U.S. Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma
* U.S. Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina
* U.S. Senator Mike Johanns of Nebraska
* U.S. Senator and 2008 Republican nominee for President John McCain of Arizona
* U.S. Senator John Thune of South Dakota
* Former U.S. Senator Jim Talent of Missouri
* U.S. Congressman Jeff Flake of Arizona

#### Tiahrt

* State Senator Steve Abrams
* State Senator Les Donovan
* State Senator Dick Kelsey
* State Senator Julia Lynn
* State Senator Ty Masterson
* State Senator Carolyn McGinn
* State Senator Susan Wagle
* Kansas House Majority Leader Ray Merrick
* Kansas Speaker Pro Tempore Arlen Seigfreid
* State Representative Steven Brunk
* State Representative J. David Crum
* State Representative Peter DeGraaf
* State Representative Mario Goico
* State Representative John Grange
* State Representative Phil Hermanson
* State Representative Steve Huebert
* State Representative Aaron Jack
* State Representative Kasha Kelley
* State Representative Dan Kerschen
* State Representative Brenda Landwehr
* State Representative Joe McLeland
* State Representative Virgil Peck
* State Representative Marc Rhoades
* State Representative Gene Suellentrop
* U.S Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma
* Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania
* U.S. Congressman Mike Rogers of Alabama
* Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert of Illinois
* Former U.S. Congressman Jim Ryun of Kansas
* Former attorney general of the United States John Ashcroft
* Former United States Secretary of Education Bill Bennett
* Sarah Palin, former Governor of Alaska and 2008 vice presidential nominee
* James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family
* Erick Erickson, editor of the conservative weblog RedState
* Steve Forbes, former Republican presidential candidate and editor-in-chief of Forbes
* Gracia Burnham, Kansas resident and former missionary kidnapped in Philippines
* Darla Jaye, talk show host on KMBZ
* David Keene, Chairman of the American Conservative Union
* Mark Levin, prominent conservative author and talk show host
* Dick Morris, Fox News contributor
* Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council
* Phyllis Schlafly, founder of Eagle Forum
* Karl Rove, former Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor for President George W. Bush
* Former U.S. Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado
* Eagle Forum PAC
* Concerned Women for America PAC
* Family Research Council Action PAC
* Great American Forum PAC
* Kansans for Government Reform PAC
* Kansans for Life PAC
* Kansas State University College Republicans
* Pittsburg State University College Republicans
* Benedictine College Republicans
* Baker University College Republicans
* Kansas Federation of College Republicans
* Northwest Johnson County Republicans
* Wichita State University College Republicans

### Polling

| Poll source | Dates administered | Todd Tiahrt | Jerry Moran |
| Research 2000 | February 2–4, 2009 | 24% | 19% |
| Survey USA | April 17–19, 2009 | 35% | 39% |
| Survey USA | June 12–14, 2009 | 38% | 40% |
| Survey USA | October 2–4, 2009 | 27% | 43% |
| Survey USA | December 4–6, 2009 | 34% | 37% |
| Survey USA | January 29–31, 2010 | 33% | 40% |
| Survey USA | March 26–28, 2010 | 32% | 42% |
| Survey USA | May 21–23, 2010 | 29% | 52% |
| Survey USA | June 24–27, 2010 | 33% | 53% |
| Survey USA | July 15–18, 2010 | 36% | 50% |
| Survey USA | July 29 – August 1, 2010 | 39% | 49% |

### Results

Republican primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Republican | Jerry Moran | 161,407 | 49.8% |
| | Republican | Todd Tiahrt | 144,372 | 44.6% |
| | Republican | Tom Little | 10,104 | 3.1% |
| | Republican | Bob Londerholm | 8,168 | 2.5% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 324,051 | 100.00% |

## Democratic primary
### Candidates

* Robert Conroy, retired railroad employee
* David Haley, state senator and nominee for Secretary of State in 2002 and 2006
* Lisa Johnston, administrator at Baker University
* Charles Schollenberger, retired communications executive
* Patrick Wiesner, attorney and CPA

### Polling

| Poll source | Dates administered | Charles Schollenberger | Lisa Johnston | Robert Conroy | David Haley | Undecided |
| Survey USA | June 24–27, 2010 | 16% | 24% | 11% | 11% | 35% |
| Survey USA | July 15–18, 2010 | 14% | 23% | 7% | 12% | 36% |
| Survey USA | July 29 – August 1, 2010 | 21% | 29% | 7% | 12% | 25% |

### Results

Democratic primary results :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Lisa Johnston | 25,421 | 31.2% |
| | Democratic | Charles Schollenberger | 19,228 | 23.6% |
| | Democratic | David Haley | 15,584 | 19.2% |
| | Democratic | Patrick Wiesner | 13,359 | 16.4% |
| | Democratic | Robert Conroy | 7,779 | 9.6% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 81,371 | 100.00% |

## General election
### Candidates
#### Major

* Jerry Moran (R), U.S. Representative (campaign site, PVS Archived September 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, FEC)
* Lisa Johnston (D), Baker University administrator (campaign site, PVS Archived September 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, FEC)

#### Minor

* Michael Dann (L) (campaign site, PVS Archived September 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine)
* Joe Bellis (RE) (campaign site, PVS)

### Campaign

Kansas is a very red state, where no Democrat has won a U.S. Senate election since 1932. After the primary, Moran chose not to release any more negative advertisements. Democrat Lisa Johnston ran a low-profile, quiet race. On election day, she won only two counties: Wyandotte County and Douglas County, while Moran won statewide by a landslide.

### Debates

The two never met for a debate.

### Predictions

| Source | Ranking | As of |
| Cook Political Report | Solid R | October 26, 2010 |
| Rothenberg | Safe R | October 22, 2010 |
| RealClearPolitics | Safe R | October 26, 2010 |
| Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe R | October 21, 2010 |
| CQ Politics | Safe R | October 26, 2010 |

### Polling

| Poll source | Date(s) administered | Jerry Moran | Lisa Johnston |
| Rasmussen Reports | May 11, 2010 | 61% | 25% |
| Rasmussen Reports | June 30, 2010 | 59% | 23% |
| Rasmussen Reports | August 4, 2010 | 61% | 28% |
| Survey USA | August 12–15, 2010 | 69% | 23% |
| Survey USA | September 14–16, 2010 | 66% | 24% |
| Survey USA | October 10–12, 2010 | 67% | 27% |
| Survey USA | October 22–26, 2010 | 66% | 26% |

### Fundraising

| Candidate (party) | Receipts | Disbursements | Cash on hand | Debt |
| Lisa Johnston (D) | $10,627 | $4,530 | $6,096 | $1,131 |
| Jerry Moran (R) | $2,749,244 | $4,497,168 | $795,015 | $0 |
| Source: Federal Election Commission |||||

### Results

United States Senate election in Kansas, 2010 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Republican | Jerry Moran | 587,175 | 70.09% | +0.93% |
| | Democratic | Lisa Johnston | 220,971 | 26.38% | −1.11% |
| | Libertarian | Michael Dann | 17,922 | 2.14% | +0.21% |
| | Reform | Joe Bellis | 11,624 | 1.39% | −0.03% |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 837,692 | 100.0% | |
| | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold | Republican hold |

#### Counties that flipped from Republican to Democratic

* Douglas (largest city: Lawrence)