Rural and urban cousins throughout the High Plains region cast ballots on Nov. 8 as their way to give a thumbs up or thumbs down on myriad candidates and special questions tailored to their individual states.
Many familiar faces will return to the Senate and House agriculture committees, although whether they will be in a majority or minority remains to be seen. The same can be said for several key races. High Plains voters also retained governors as no upsets occurred in those races.
In the U.S. Senate, Vice Chairman John Boozman, R-AR, won re-election.
Charles Grassley, R-IA, and John Thune, R-SD, were re-elected as was Michael Bennet, D-CO. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, was leading Republican challenger Herschel Walker, in Georgia, in a race headed to a run-off. U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT, did not seek re-election.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, Chairman David Scott, D-GA, was re-elected as was Rep. Angie Craig, D-MN. Other influential legislators including Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-IL, and Jimmy Panetta, D-CA, were re-elected, as was Rodney Davis, R-IL.
If the Republicans take control then Pennsylvania Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, who was re-elected, will become chairman.
Kansas voters retained both of their members who serve on the agriculture committee —Sharice Davids, a Democrat, and Tracey Mann, a Republican. In Iowa, Cindy Axne, an incumbent Democrat, was trailing Republican Zach Nunn in the Third District, in a race that was too close to call as of election night.
Dusty Johnson, R-SD, was re-elected as was Rick Crawford, R-AR, Vicky Hartzler, R-MO, Don Bacon, R-NE, Randy Feenstra, R-IA, Michael Cloud, R-TX, and Michelle Fischbach, R-MN. Rep. Mayra Flores, R-TX, was defeated by Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-TX, in a race that included two incumbents who were put in the same district because of redistricting.
Governor races
On Nov. 9, Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, was declared the winner over Derek Schmidt, a Republican, the long-serving attorney general.
Re-elected were Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, both Republicans. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, won re-election, as did Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat. Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, was re-elected in Colorado as were Republicans Mark Gordon in Wyoming, Kim Reynolds in Iowa, and Kristi Noem in South Dakota.
Jim Pillen, a Republican, was elected governor of Nebraska. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a Republican, was elected governor of Arkansas.
Other races
U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-KS, won a third term. U.S. Sen. James Lankford, R-OK, won re-election. Also in Oklahoma, Republican Markwayne Mullin won a seat in the U.S. Senate in a special re-election to replace Sen. Jay Inhofe. Eric Schmitt, R-MO, won a six-year term, as he will replace Roy Blunt, who did not seek re-election.
In Kansas, besides Davids and Mann, voters retained House Republicans Ron Estes and Jake LaTurner.
Former House Agriculture Committee Chairman Frank Lucas, a Republican, was re-elected, as were Kevin Hern, Tom Cole and Stephanie Bice. Josh Brecheen, a Republican, was elected in the Second District to replace Mullin, also a Republican.
Besides Bacon, Nebraska re-elected Reps. Mike Floyd and Adrian Smith, both Republicans.
In Colorado, voters retained five incumbents: Diana DeGette, Joe Neguse, and Jason Crow, all Democrats, and Ken Buck and Doug Lamborn, both Republicans. One incumbent, Lauren Boebert, a Republican, is trailing in a close race to Adam Frisch, a Democrat, for the Third District. Brittany Peterson and Yadira Caraveo are expected to win races District 7 and 8, respectively.
Harriet Hageman, a Republican from Wyoming, won her state’s at-large position in the House of Representatives. Hageman had unseated Liz Cheney in the state’s primary election. In New Mexico, incumbents Melanie Stansbury and Teresa Leger Fernandez, both Democrats, were re-elected. In the Second District, the race between Democrat Gabriel Vasquez and Republican Yvette Herrell was too close to call. Herrell is the incumbent.
In Missouri, Republicans Ann Wagner, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Mark Alford, Sam Graves, Eric Burlison and Jason Smith were winners. Also winning were Democrats Cori Bush and Emanuel Cleaver. Other winners in Minnesota, besides previously mentioned Craig and Fischbach, were Democrats Dean Phillips, Betty McCollum and Ilhan Omar; and they will be joined by Brad Finstad, Tom Emmer and Pete Stauber.
In Iowa, Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Ashley Hinsons, both Republicans, were winners.
In Texas, Republican winners besides Cloud were Nathanial Moran, Dan Crenshaw, Keith Self, Pat Fallon, Lance Gooden, Jake Ellzey, Morgan Luttrell, Michael McCaul, August Pfluger, Kay Granger, Ronny Jackson, Randy Weber, Monica De La Cruz, Pete Sessions, Jodey Arrington, Chip Roy, Troy Nehls, Tony Gonzales, Beth Van Duyne, Roger Williams, Michael Burgess, and John Carter. Besides Vicente Gonzalez, other Democratic winners included Lizzie Fletcher, Al Green, Veronica Escobar, Sheila Jackson Lee, Joaquin Castro, Henry Cuellar, Sylvia Garcia, Jasmine Crockett, Colin Allfred and Marc Veasey.
Dave Bergmeier can be reached at 620-227-1822 or [email protected].
