Matt Lyons

Steve Richey

By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Sumner County voters took to the polls Tuesday in an interesting primary election, with 3,929 votes cast, up from 2,730 in 2024.

Undoubtedly, much of the voter increase had to do with the Constitutional Amendment ballot question concerning whether or not to elect Kansas Supreme Court justices. Statewide, the question got hammered with 61 percent voting a resounding no. In Sumner County, the vote was much closer with the “No” vote winning 2,394 to 2,174. The amendment got most of its support in the rural area of Sumner County, especially in the Conway Springs- Belle Plaine area.

Click to enlarge.

John Cooney

The big local races were the two Republican primaries for Sumner County Commissioner. Matt Lyons won District 1 – encompassing most of northern Sumner County. Challenger Steve Richey, at the moment, unseated Commissioner John Cooney, who represents east Sumner County and the eastern half of Wellington. There are no Democrats running for Commissioner, so the race is all but assured to be won for a four-year term.

However, the District 3 Commissioner Race is far from a certainty as of Wednesday, Aug. 5. Let’s delve deeper…

The closeness of the District 3 race will not be determined until the Board of Canvassers meets at the County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 11 at 9:30 a.m.

When the unofficial tallies were made Tuesday night, Richey had received nine more votes than Cooney, 470 to 461. However, as of this morning, the Sumner County Clerk’s office has determined that there are 58 provisional ballots not included in the final ballot. According to Sumner County Clerk Debbie Norris, a provisional ballot is one in which the address doesn’t match, there’s a name change, it is not registered, or proper IDs were not provided at the polls.

If the ballots are included in the final vote count, that could sway the election Cooney’s way or give Richey a larger title.

The closeness of this race could also determine whether or not a recount will be made. Any one of the two candidates can demand a recount, to be paid for by the candidates themselves.

“I’ve seen where the margin is closer than this, and there was no recount,” Norris said. “I’ve also seen it the other way where it was much wider and a recount was made.”

The percentage difference in this race was 50.5 to 49.5 percent. It was an interesting vote. If Cooney goes on to lose this race, it will be because of Gore and Mulvane Township in the northeast corner of Sumner County. Cooney lost 136 to 34 in Gore alone and didn’t do much better in Mulvane, losing 50 to 17.

Cooney did well in the other parts of the district, winning on the south end and carrying Wellington and Oxford by a healthy margin.

Cooney was leading Richey at the mid-point of the voting by 53 votes.

The other district race, vacated by incumbent Steve Warner, who decided not to run, was won by Matt Lyons.

Outside of the commissioners race, incumbent Kyle Hoffman in District 116 won his primary against Herb Landwehr with a 59-to-41 percent margin.

Here are all the other contested races for Sumner County below. For the full voting tallies click here.

Democrat U.S. Senator (top five votes in Sumner): Noah Taylor 237, Adam Hamilton 198, Michael ‘Mike’ Soetaert 168, Christy Davis 114, Jason Hart 64.

Democrat House of Representatives, 4th District: Katy Tynell 547, Chris Carmichael 206, Ryan Gilbert 145, Cole Epley 52.

Democrat Governor: Cindy Holscher 433, Ethan Corson 398, Curt Skogg 139.

Democrat Secretary of State: Jennifer Day 744, Samuel Lane 194.

Republican U.S. Senate: Roger Marshall 2,575, Pond Naramore 572.

Republican U.S. House of Representatives: Ron Estes 2,575, Frank McCullum 590.

Republican Governor (top five): Ty Masterson 1,407, Phillip Sarnecki 732, Scott Schwab 334, Vicki Schmidt 258, Stacy Rogers 252.

Republican House of Representative Dist. 116: Hoffman 338, Landwehr 270

Republican Avon Township Clerk: Lance Rohrer 37 Art Bunyan 20.

Republican Creek Township Clerk: Clint Ast 25 Benjamin Rush 17

Republican Greene Township Clerk: Brian Decamp 11, Darlene McCartney 5, Larry Sauzek 1.

Republican Sumner Township: Rex Peck 26, Elizabeth Davis 12.

Republican South Haven Township committeeman: John Strickland 80, Robert Coleman 12.

Republican Wellington 1 Precinct Committeeman: Mike Wilmoth 173, Joseph Gould 90.

Republican Wellington 2 Precinct Committeeman: Patrick Fink 289, Terry Nunemaker 174.

Republican Greene Township Precinct Committeewoman: Deanne Gould 10, Mitzi Carroll 7.

Republican South Haven Township Precinct Committeewoman: Jennifer Strickland 79, Dana Williage 13.

Republican Sumner Township Precinct Committeewoman: Melanie Chitwood 24, Ginger Davis 14.

Republican Wellington 2 Precinct Committeewoman: Judith Fink 302, Jeannie Nunemaker 161.