Leading up to and on Nov. 8, Johnson County voters will head to the polls for the midterm general election.
As we’ve done for more than a decade now, we’ll be asking the candidates seeking to represent Johnson Countians in office — making decisions about how their tax dollars are used, what powers local and state governments exercise, and where our community will head in the coming years — about the issues YOU want to hear them discuss as they compete for your vote.
Key Takeaways
• We’re asking Johnson County residents what they want to hear the candidates running for county commission, Kansas House and U.S. House talking about heading into November.
• If you questions or topics on your mind, you can email us here. Or Tweet us here. Or send us a message on Facebook here.
• We’ll use your input to put together questionnaires that we’ll send to the candidates to answer. We’ll publish their responses ahead of the start of voting in October.
This “Citizens Agenda” approach to campaign coverage seeks to center the interests of everyday voters — not political parties, power brokers or journalists.
“When we ask people about what they want to hear candidates talking about, we find it’s almost never the kinds of things that dominate discussion on cable news or talk radio,” said Post publisher Jay Senter. “These candidates want the job of representing you, of being your voice in the rooms where big decisions get made about where the state and county are heading. We think it’s our job to get the candidates talking about the things people say matter most to them.”
So: What do you want the candidates to be talking about as they compete for votes?
? Send us a message on Facebook here.
We’ll use your input to develop questionnaires for the candidates on the primary ballots, which we’ll publish ahead of the start of advanced voting next month.
Key races on the primary ballot
The local contests for which will be asking candidates questions include:
- U.S. House (Kansas’s Third District): a contest between incumbent Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids, and Republican challenger Amanda Adkins and Libertarian Steven Hohe.
- Johnson County Commission chair: a competition between the two candidates who advanced out of a four-person primary, Roeland Park Mayor Mike Kelly and District 3 Commissioner Charlotte O’Hara.
- Johnson County Commission District 1: incumbent Becky Fast and challenger Audra MacMahon.
- Johnson County Commission District 4: incumbent Janeé Hanzlick and challenger Maria Holiday.
- Johnson County Commission District 5: incumbent Michael Ashcraft and challenger Stephanie Suzanne Berland, both of whom were the top two finishers respectively in a three-person primary.
- Kansas State Board of Education District 3: incumbent Michelle Domrosky and challenger Sheila Albers.
- Every Kansas House district in the Post’s coverage area.
For a list of these contests and the candidates set to advance to the Nov. 8 general election, as well as other federal and statewide offices that will be on the general election ballot, see our full ballot rundown.