The Voter Desk: every 'candidates on the issues' guide, in one place
Kansas votes August 4 and in-person advance voting in Johnson County starts Saturday. The Johnson County Post spent weeks asking candidates its readers' questions, one issue per day — the series wrapped Friday. Here is all of it, organized by race, plus the rest of the metro's homework.
The Kansas primary is Tuesday, August 4. Mail advance ballots started going out July 15, and in-person advance voting in Johnson County begins Saturday, July 18, at 12 locations, running through noon on August 3. If you have not done your homework yet, good news: someone did it for you, and it is genuinely good.
The Johnson County Post collected 130 questions from its readers, distilled them into five-question questionnaires for every major race on the ballot, sent them to the candidates, and published the answers one issue per day, July 13 through 17, timed to land before advance voting opens. Editor Kyle Palmer describes it as a “citizens agenda” approach: the readers picked the topics, not the newsroom.
The series wrapped Friday. This page organizes every entry by race, with the rest of the metro’s guides underneath. Every link goes to the original reporting. All of it below is reported by the Johnson County Post unless noted.
Johnson County Commission Chair
- Who’s running: meet the candidates
- Property taxes and the county budget
- Housing affordability and development
- Data centers: where each candidate stands on a countywide moratorium
- Immigration and the county’s role
- Bonus: the Post also co-hosted a live chair forum with the Johnson County Library
Kansas Governor
- Who’s running: a guide to the field
- Property taxes and the cost of living
- Economic development and the Chiefs stadium deal, including a question on a statewide data center moratorium
- Data centers
- Bipartisanship
Kansas House
- Meet the candidates in 6 contested JoCo primaries
- Housing affordability: what state-level tools candidates would support to make housing attainable
- Data centers
Kansas State Board of Education (Republican primary)
- Meet the 2 JoCo Republicans vying for the seat
- DEI, “culture war” issues and outside pressure
- Gender, sports and inclusion
Kansas Secretary of State (Democratic primary)
- Top three priorities
- Impartial election administration
- Voter access
- Election security and misinformation
- The business side of the office
U.S. Senate
- Cost of living
- Immigration
- Elections
- Social Security, Medicare and health care
- Accountability and independence
U.S. House (Kansas’ 3rd District)
- Cost of living
- Immigration
- Social Security, Medicare and health care
- Federal pressure on local schools
- Accountability
On every Kansas ballot: the judges amendment
One more item every Kansas voter will see, regardless of party: a constitutional amendment on electing state Supreme Court justices. The Post explains what those “Vote yes” and “Vote no” yard signs mean, and KCUR’s guide flags that this question is open to all voters — unaffiliated included.
The rest of the metro’s homework
KCUR has the widest lens: a two-state election guide covering what Kansas and Missouri voters will see on their August ballots, a running guide to the Kansas governor candidates, and an Election 2026 hub collecting all of it.
The Beacon owns the Missouri side of the line, with a six-way Jackson County Executive primary guide profiling every candidate’s background and platform. Missouri votes the same day, August 4.
Kansas Reflector is your statehouse wire for the governor’s race as it happens: the final GOP-sanctioned gubernatorial debate and Gov. Laura Kelly’s contested endorsement in the Democratic primary, both reported by the Reflector.
Logistics live at the Johnson County Election Office — advance voting locations, hours, and your sample ballot — and the Kansas Secretary of State’s election dates page. Key dates, per the Secretary of State: the registration deadline for this primary was July 14; mail advance ballots began going out July 15; every Kansas county must offer in-person advance voting by July 28; all ballots must be received by close of polls August 4.
None of the reporting above is ours. That is the point. The newsrooms did the work; this page just makes sure you can find all of it before you vote.
This page was built from The Stare’s Wire Ledger. Know a candidate guide we missed? tips. Something wrong above? corrections@kcstare.com.