Kansas voters have decisively rejected a Republican-backed constitutional amendment that would have replaced the state's merit-based judicial selection process with direct elections. The defeat preserves the 1958 system where a nominating commission screens candidates for gubernatorial appointment. Opponents, who outspent supporters 2-to-1 in a $12 million campaign, celebrated the outcome as a victory for judicial independence against conservative efforts to target the court over its prior rulings protecting abortion rights and mandating public school funding.
Kansas Supreme Court amendment defeat
- ▪The Associated Press projected the defeat of the Kansas judicial amendment on August 4, 2026, with "no" votes leading "yes" votes 62% to 38% with 90% of the votes tallied.
- ▪Kansas voters rejected a Republican-backed constitutional amendment on August 4, 2026, that would have allowed the direct election of state Supreme Court justices.
Current judicial selection process
- ▪The Kansas Supreme Court Nominating Commission consists of five lawyers elected by members of the state bar and four non-lawyers appointed by the governor.
- ▪Kansas voters adopted the current merit-based judicial nominating commission system in 1958 following a political scandal involving a sitting governor and the chief justice.
- ▪Under the existing Kansas judicial selection system, the governor appoints Supreme Court justices from a list of three finalists selected by a nine-member nominating commission.
Republican legislative motivations
- ▪Opponents argued that Republican legislators proposed the amendment to punish the Kansas Supreme Court for rulings on abortion and education and to gain partisan control.
- ▪Republican lawmakers and conservative supporters backed the amendment to give voters a direct voice and reduce the influence of attorneys in selecting Supreme Court justices.
Campaign spending by opponents
- ▪The campaign over the Kansas judicial selection ballot measure drew more than $12 million in television advertising spending.
- ▪Opponents of the Kansas judicial selection amendment outspent supporters of the measure by a ratio of more than 2-to-1 on the airwaves.
Abortion rights rulings
- ▪Kansas voters previously rejected a constitutional amendment in August 2022 that would have overturned the state Supreme Court's 2019 abortion rights ruling.
- ▪In 2022, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach stated that a direct election amendment would allow conservatives to slowly and quietly place anti-abortion justices on the court.
- ▪The Kansas Supreme Court ruled in 2019 that the state constitution protects a woman's right to an abortion, dealing a setback to conservative lawmakers.
School funding rulings
- ▪Opponents of the amendment argued that conservative lawmakers sought to overhaul the court in retribution for judicial mandates requiring the legislature to fully fund public education.
- ▪The Kansas National Education Association and other school funding advocates mobilized educators to oppose the amendment to protect public school funding.
Story comments
Loading comments…