Three area Kansas State House Representatives seats and one Kansas State Senate seat were captured in unopposed races by Republican candidates Tuesday.
As of presstime, only early advance votes had been counted in Barton County.
• Kansas House of Representatives, Dist. 112
Rep. Tory Marie Arnberger (R-Great Bend) was reelected to the House District 112 seat she has held since Jan. 2017.
As of presstime, with only early advance votes counted, Arnberger received 3,905 votes. There were also 62 write-in votes.
Arnberger first won election to the Kansas House of Representatives in 2016 and won an uncontested reelection in 2018.
Arnberger is a Fort Hays State University graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Business Education. She works as the human resources director for Pryor Automatic Fire Sprinkler in Great Bend.
District 112 encompasses most of central Barton County, including the communities of Great Bend and Hoisington.
• Kansas House of Representatives, Dist. 113
Brett Fairchild (R-St. John) was elected for the first time to the Kansas House District 113 seat in an unopposed race. He defeated Donna Hoener-Queal in the Republican primary for the seat in August.
The seat was being vacated by Alicia Straub, who is running unopposed for the State Senate Dist. 33 seat in the general election.
As of presstime, with only early advance votes counted in Barton County, Fairchild had received 522 votes in Barton County. There were also 19 write-in votes.
Fairchild previously unsuccessfully ran for the seat in 2018, losing in the Republican primary to the late Greg Lewis. He also worked as an office assistant during the 2019 Kansas legislative session for Rep. David French (R-Lansing) and Rep. Ken Collins (R-Mulberry).
According to his campaign website, Fairchild is a farmer from St. John, and lifetime resident of the area.
He attended St. John High School and Sterling College, and graduated with a degree in Business Administration. After spending time working for what was then CPI Qualified Plan Consultants, he returned to farming full time.
District 113 covers all of Stafford and Pratt counties, as well as small sections of Rice, Pawnee, and southern Barton counties.
• Kansas House of Representatives, Dist. 109
Troy L. Waymaster (R-Bunker Hill) won reelection to the Kansas House of Representatives District 109 seat, a seat he has held since assuming office in January 2013.
As of presstime, with only early advance votes counted in Barton County, Waymaster had received 367 votes in Barton County. There was also one write-in vote.
Waymaster ran unopposed for both the Republican primary in August and in Tuesday’s general election.
He also ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Kansas’ 1st Congressional District, but withdrew prior to primary in August.
District 109 covers several counties in north-central Kansas including Smith, Osborne, Russell, as well as eastern Rush County, northern Barton County, and western Lincoln County.
• Kansas State Senate, Dist. 33
Alicia Straub (R-Ellinwood) captured the Kansas State Senate District 33 seat in an unopposed race. In August, she defeated incumbent Mary Jo Taylor in the Republican primary to secure the nomination for the general election.
As of presstime, with only early advance votes counted in Barton County, Straub had received 4,793 votes in Barton County with 162 write-in votes.
District 33 covers all or part of 12 counties in western and central Kansas. It extends west to Scott County, east to portions of Rice County, south to Pratt and Kiowa counties, and north to the Barton County line.
Straub has held the Kansas House District 113 seat since March 2019, when the Republican Precinct Committee appointed her to fill the seat left vacant with the passing of Greg Lewis. Prior to holding that office, Straub served on served as Chairwoman on the Barton County Commission.
