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00000179-cdc6-d978-adfd-cfc6d7d40002Coverage of the issues, races and people shaping Kansas elections in 2016, including statewide coverage in partnership with KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, and High Plains Public Radio.

Kansas Democrats Form Simple Majority

Abigail Beckman/KMUW

Kansas Democrats picked up enough seats Tuesday to form a simple majority with incumbent moderates and moderates who beat conservatives in Republican primaries. Abigail Beckman has more.

Democrats in the Senate knew they only needed to garner one additional seat to get more leverage, and going into the evening the Senate District 25 race was key.

Democratic candidate Lynn Rogers, a member of the board of education for Wichita Public Schools, was projected to beat Republican Jim Price, and that's exactly what happened: Unofficial results show Rogers earned 58 percent of the vote.

Rogers says during his campaign, he heard the same things over and over from constituents.

"You know, people wanted somebody to represent them that actually represented the 25th district. And, you know, they want to see tax fairness and, you know, supporting schools and those kinds of things," he says. "So I guess I've got my marching orders in terms of what I need to do out of the 25th."

Rogers will fill the seat vacated by Republican Michael O'Donnell, who won his bid last night for a spot on the Sedgwick County Commission.

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Follow Abigail Beckman on Twitter @AbigailKMUW.

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