page_title: Lawrence, Kansas
section_title: Government
hierarchical_section_title: Lawrence, Kansas / Government
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo I shot of the county courthouse in Lawrence, Kansas
context_page_description: Lawrence is the county seat of Douglas County and sixth-largest city in Kansas. It is in the northeastern sector of the state, astride Interstate 70, between the Kansas and Wakarusa Rivers. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 87,643; by 2018 the estimated population had risen to 98,193. Lawrence is a college town and the home to both the University of Kansas and Haskell Indian Nations University.
  Lawrence was founded by the New England Emigrant Aid Company, and was named for Amos Adams Lawrence, a Republican abolitionist originally from Massachusetts, who offered financial aid and support for the settlement. Lawrence was central to the "Bleeding Kansas" period, and the site of the Wakarusa War and the Sacking of Lawrence. During the American Civil War it was also the site of the Lawrence massacre.
  Lawrence began as a center of free-state politics. Its economy diversified into many industries, including agriculture, manufacturing, and education, beginning with the founding of the University of Kansas in 1865 and Haskell Indian Nations University in 1884.
context_section_description: Lawrence is run by a city commission and city manager. Commissioners consists of five individuals elected by the citizens. Three commissioner seats are up for reelection every two years. The two top vote-getters receive a four-year term, third-place finisher receives a two-year term. The commission elects a mayor and vice-mayor every year in April, usually the two top vote-getters, and also hires the city manager. Lawrence uses plurality-at-large voting (also known as block voting) for its municipal elections, whereby voters may choose up to three candidates for office.
  While Kansas is a heavily Republican state, Lawrence is often considered a bastion of the modern Democratic Party, and has been since the late 1980s. Douglas County, where Lawrence is situated, was one of only two counties in Kansas whose majority voted for John Kerry in the 2004 presidential election, one of only three that voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 election and one of the only two counties to vote for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Douglas County has supported the Democratic candidate for the past seven presidential elections.
  Lawrence is served by Democratic state representatives Eileen Horn, Mike Amyx, Barbara Ballard and Dennis "Boog" Highberger, and by Democratic state senators Marci Francisco, and Tom Holland. Lawrence is represented federally by Republican Steve Watkins of the 2nd and U.S. Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran, both Republicans. Prior to 2002, Lawrence sat entirely within the 3rd district until reapportionment split Lawrence between the 2nd and 3rd districts. In 2012, Lawrence was placed entirely within the 2nd district.
  Lawrence was the first city in Kansas to enact an ordinance (enacted in 1995, after a campaign called Simply Equal) prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. On October 4, 2011, Lawrence became the first city in Kansas to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity with the passage of City Ordinance No. 8672. The effort to pass the GIO was led by Scott Criqui from the Kansas Equality Coalition. Scott Criqui would go on to become the first openly gay candidate to run for office and win an election in Lawrence. Douglas County was the only county in Kansas to reject the amendment to the Kansas Constitution prohibiting both gay marriage and civil unions in April 2005. The vote against the amendment was primarily in the city of Lawrence; outside the city in the rest of Douglas County, the amendment carried. Lawrence has an active chapter of the Kansas Equality Coalition, which persuaded the city commission to approve a domestic partner registry on May 22, 2007. The registry, which took effect on August 1, 2007, provides unmarried couples —both same-sex and other-sex— some recognition by the city for legal purposes.
caption: The Douglas County Courthouse
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