The Latest: Democratic nominee launches attacks on Kobach
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the counting of provisional ballots in the tight Republican primary for Kansas governor (all times local):
8:30 p.m.
Democratic nominee for Kansas governor Laura Kelly is launching attacks against Republican opponent Kris Kobach now that Gov. Jeff Colyer has conceded the GOP nomination to him.
Kelly said on Tuesday evening that Kansas families suffered under former Gov. Sam Brownback, who left office earlier this year for a position in President Donald Trump's administration. The state senator form Topeka slammed Kobach for his pledge to return to what she called Brownback's failed policies and Kobach's extreme partisanship and self-promotion.
Kobach, currently the secretary of state, is promising to push for lower income and sales tax rates and tighter controls on local property taxes a year after bipartisan supermajorities in the state Legislature rolled back past income tax cuts championed by Brownback.
Kelly said she would push for strong schools, good jobs, balanced budgets and steady leadership.
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7:40 p.m.
Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer has conceded in the state's Republican gubernatorial primary, saying he will endorse Secretary of State Kris Kobach a week after their neck-and-neck finish threatened to send the race to a recount.
Colyer accepted defeat Tuesday evening after a review of some provisional ballots from most Kansas counties failed to find enough votes for him to overcome a deficit of 110 votes at the time of poll closing in the Aug. 7 primary, out of more than 311,000 votes initially counted.
Kobach will face Democrat Laura Kelly in the November general election.
Colyer is a 58-year-old plastic surgeon from suburban Kansas City. He served as lieutenant governor for seven years and took over as governor in January when Sam Brownback resigned to become ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom.
Kobach had the support of President Donald Trump.
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5:40 p.m.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is still leading Gov. Jeff Colyer in the Republican race for governor after provisional votes were counted in the state's most populous county.
Several counties were tallying provisional votes Tuesday, a week after the primary election.
Johnson County released its count Tuesday evening, which pushed Kobach over Colyer by just 345 votes out of more than 315,000 cast.
That's a slight increase from earlier in the day, when the state's second largest county, Sedgwick County, released its numbers and put Kobach ahead of the sitting governor by just 298 votes.
Kobach has been narrowly ahead since the Aug. 7 election.
Provisional ballots are cast when a voter's eligibility is questioned. Those votes are now being counted by state's 105 counties in a process that's expected to stretch into Monday.
But under state law, the candidates must decide by Friday whether to seek a recount.
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11:40 a.m.
Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach has slightly widened his lead over Gov. Jeff Colyer in the state's Republican primary for governor.
The state's second largest county released its count of provisional ballots late Tuesday morning.
With the updated Sedgwick County numbers, Kobach now leads the sitting governor by just 298 votes out of more than 314,000 cast.
Kobach had a 206-vote lead on Monday, the first day of counting provision ballots.
The state's largest county, Johnson County, isn't expected to release updated numbers until late Tuesday afternoon.
Fourteen smaller counties also began canvassing votes Tuesday, a week after the primary election.
On Monday, more than two-thirds of the state's counties reviewed provisional ballots, which are given at the polls to voters when their eligibility is in question.
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6 a.m.
Kansas county election officials are set to continue reviewing some 9,000 provisional ballots Tuesday as the two candidates in the state's tight GOP primary for governor dig in for a long battle.
On Monday, more than two-thirds of the state's counties reviewed provisional ballots, which are given at the polls to voters when their eligibility is in question.
How to handle such ballots emerged on the first day of canvassing as the most contentious issue in the razor-thin race for the Republican nomination for governor.
Secretary of State Kris Kobach led Gov. Jeff Colyer by about 200 votes when the vote counting stopped for the day Monday, with 43 counties left to report results in the coming days. Fourteen counties are to begin canvassing Tuesday.
