KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
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Kansas voters flipped seats blue across House districts in the 2026 midterm election, breaking the Republican supermajority in the Kansas House of Representatives, according to unofficial final results.
“Republicans entered this cycle with a five-seat supermajority, which we have shattered," Kansas House Minority Leader Brandon Woodard said at an election watch party Tuesday night.
On Thursday, Woodard said he wasn't planning on Kansas Democrats to win 20 House seats.
“I think the latest numbers are that we’ve picked up 11 seats in Johnson County," Woodard said.
Currently, Republicans fill 88 seats in the Kansas House and Democrats hold 37 seats.
Newly-elected representatives will be sworn in in January.
Republican Kansas Rep. Rebecca Schmoe was reelected in House District 59.
“Whoever is sitting in the executive office at the federal level, usually midterms swing the other direction," she said. "The swing this time was very drastic.”
While Schmoe said she has seen bipartisan work in Topeka before, she said she expects to see gridlock with a more evenly split House.
“One of the things that I would say we have to focus on is getting a handle on the property tax issue," Schmoe said.
Property tax relief for Kansans is also at the top of mind for Woodard. He said with more blue seats in Topeka, the House will hear more ideas for relief.
“What we’ve seen with property tax relief or other bills, the House and the Senate will always have the role of opposing one another, but we have the numbers to force things through, the Senate doesn’t," he said.
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