Kansas political battles await after 5 Republicans decline to seek reelection to Board of Education
TOPEKA — In an extraordinary turn of events, five Republican incumbents on the Kansas Board of Education due to stand for reelection this year decided to step aside.
Fourteen candidates filed by the June 1 deadline to campaign for state Board of Education seats up for grabs in 2026. Every two years, five of 10 state board positions appear on Kansas ballots. While Republicans prepare for contested primaries Aug. 4 in three of five district races, Democrats fielded a single candidate in all five districts.
The openings were created by pending departure of three-term incumbent Jim Porter of Fredonia and two-term member Michelle Dombrosky of Olathe, who accepted an offer to be lieutenant governor running mate for GOP gubernatorial candidate Charlotte O’Hara. The one-term incumbents declining to seek reelection were Danny Zeck of Leavenworth, Cathy Hopkins of Hays and Dennis Hershberger of Hutchinson.
Three of the five state Board of Education members not up for reelection until 2028 are Democrats, so this election cycle could reset the partisan balance for the next two years. A current GOP majority on the board oversees the Kansas Department of Education and maintains constitutional supervision of K-12 education policy and standards applicable to 475,000 public school students.
https://kansasreflector.com/2026/06/08/kansas-political-battles-await-after-5-republicans-decline-to-seek-reelection-to-board-of-education/