The below guidelines for filing fees and petitions was provided by the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office:
Filing by Fee
Only Democrat and Republican primary candidates may file by fee. The filing fee is either a set amount or based on a percentage of the salary of the office the candidate is seeking. For gubernatorial candidates, that is 1 percent, and all other partisan primary candidates file pursuant to KSA 25-206 which includes a complex formula to determine the fee.
Filing by use of petition
National and state offices elected on a statewide basis:
U.S. senator, governor/lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer, commissioner of insurance
• Pairs of Democrat and Republican primary candidates for governor/lieutenant governor must have signatures of 1 percent of the party vote for Secretary of State in the last general election.
• Democrat and Republican primary candidates for other statewide offices must have signatures of 1 percent of the party’s total voter registration.
• Independent candidates must have 5,000 signatures of registered voters.
National and state offices elected on less than a statewide basis:
U.S. Representative, state representative, district, court judge, district magistrate judge, State Board of Education
• Democrat and Republican primary candidates, including candidates for judicial offices, must have valid signatures of 2 percent of the party’s total voter registration from the district.
• Independent candidates (except state board of education) must have valid signatures of 4 percent of the registered voters of the district. The petition must contain valid signatures of at least 25 voters but not more than 5,000 voters.
• Primary candidates for state board of education must have valid signatures of 200 registered voters of the district.
• Independent candidates for state board of education must have valid signatures of 200 voters of the district.
Local offices
• County offices – commissioner
Democrat and Republican primary candidates must have valid signatures of 3 percent of the party’s registered voters from the district.
Independent candidates must have valid signatures of 4 percent of the total registered voters of the district.
• Township offices – clerk
Democrat and Republican primary candidates must have valid signatures of 3 percent of the party’s registered voters from the township.
Independent candidates must have valid signatures of 5 percent, and not less than 10 total, of the registered voters of the township.
Those with political aspirations for the Aug. 5 primary election need act quickly to toss their hats into the ring, Barton County election officials said. The primary filing deadline is noon Monday, June 2.
Candidates for the following offices must file either with the Kansas Secretary of State for state offices or Barton County Election Officer Donna Zimmerman for local county offices.
The election will include:
National and state offices
• United States House of Representatives, 1st District
• United States Senate
• Governor/lieutenant governor
• Secretary of State
• Attorney General
• State Treasurer
• Commissioner of Insurance
• State Representative 109th District
• State Representative 112th District
• State Representative 113th District
• State Board of Education, 5th District
• District Court Judge, 20th District, 1st Division
Local Offices
• Barton County Commissioner, 1st District.
• Barton County Commissioner, 4th District
• Barton County Commissioner, 5th District
• Office of Township Clerk in each of the following Townships:
Albion, Beaver, Buffalo, Cheyenne, Clarence, Cleveland, Comanche, Eureka, Fairview, Grant, Great Bend, North Homestead, South Homestead , Independent , Lakin, Liberty, Logan, Pawnee Rock, South Bend, Union, Walnut and Wheatland
• Precinct committeeman and precinct committeewoman in each of the 40 precincts, wards or townships.
Thus far, there have been three filings through Zimmerman’s office. These include: Two for 5th Commission District (Dean Akings and incumbent Jennifer Schartz); and Brock McPherson for First Precinct Fourth Ward committee man.
According to the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office, the following candidates who will be voted on in Barton County have filed at the national and state levels as of Thursday:
• U.S. Senate
Chad Taylor, Democrat, Topeka
Pat Roberts, Republican, Dodge City
Milton Wolf, Republican, Leawood
• U.S. House of Representatives, District 1
Bryan R. Whitney, Democrat, Wichita
Alan LaPolice, Republican, Clyde
• Kansas governor
Jennifer Winn/Ethan McCord, Republican, Haysville
•Secretary of state
Randy Rolston, Democrat, Mission Hills
Jean Kurtis Schodorf, Democrat, Wichita
• Attorney general
A.J. Kotich, Democrat, Topeka
State treasurer
Ron Estes, Republican, Wichita
• Commissioner of insurance
Dennis Anderson, Democrat, Overland Park
Beverly Gossage, Republican, Eudora
David J. Powell, Republican, El Dorado
• Kansas House
District 109
Troy L. Waymaster, Republican, Luray
District 112
Steve Muehleisen, Democrat, Great Bend
John Edmonds, Republican, Great Bend
District 113
Jeremy “Basil” Dannebohm, Republican, Ellinwood
The general election falls on Nov. 4.
For more information concerning the offices, filing requirements or fees, contact the Barton County Election Office at 620-793-1835.
