A week after the election, Kansans finally know who won the GOP primary for governor. Gov. Jeff Colyer conceded the tight race for the GOP nomination Tuesday evening as provisional ballots coming in from Kansas’ biggest counties did not break his way. After Johnson Co., the state’s largest county, released its count Tuesday evening, Kobach held a 345 vote lead.
“I’ve just had a conversation with the Secretary of State and congratulated him on his success and repeated my determination to keep this seat in Republican hands. This election may be the closest in America. But the numbers are not there,” Colyer said in his concession speech.
“Kansas is too important,” he continued. “Tracey and I will not challenge this in court, nor will we ask a recount. Right here and now we endorse the winner Kris Kobach and Wink Hartman.
“There is only one thing to say on an occasion such as this, and that is “Thank You.” Thank you to our tens of thousands of supporters, especially those who gave of their time and treasure to make our campaign possible. I am very proud of the work we have done in the past six months and of the hopeful optimistic message we shared in this campaign.”
Kobach now moves on to the general election campaign, where he will face Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly, of Topeka, and independent Greg Orman.
In a statement, Kobach’s staff said they would hold a press conference on Wednesday “to launch our general election campaign with the support of Governor Colyer and Republicans across the state.”
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