Kansas 2012 Election Results LIVE: Romney wins Kansas

Impact
ByKelly Stroda

10:25 p.m. 

All of the major TV networks are projecting Obama to win re-election. 

10 p.m.

As predicted, the state is still going toward Mitt Romney. The Kansas Secretary of State office's unofficial results show Mitt Romney with 58 percent of the vote, Barack Obama with 40 percent of the vote and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson with 2 percent of the vote.  

7:35 p.m.

Three of Kansas' 105 counties are currently reporting results. Based on these preliminary reports, Romney is winning the state with 66 percent of the vote. 

7:00 p.m. 

Polls in Kansas have closed. Stay tuned, folks.

6:15 p.m.

Polls in Kansas close in 45 minutes. When results start rolling in, the Kansas Secretary of State's will be updated. PRO-TIP: The left sidebar on the website shows tonight's "Hot Races".

2:58 p.m. 

In case you need a refresher on what this election means for the state of Kansas, see this Associated Press story: Kansas Legislative races attracting Election Day attention

During the primary in August, conservative Republicans won eight races and ousting more moderate Republicans from the November race. The GOP right is hoping to fill more House and Senate seats with conservative Republicans in order to become the majority in both chambers. 

In northeast Kansas, four Democratic senators are hoping to hold onto their seats. These senators include Minority Leader Anthony Hensley of Topeka, Tom Holland of Baldwin City, Laura Kelly of Topeka and Kelly Kultala of Kansas City, according to the story. 

(For more about the candidates in Douglas County, see PoliticalFiber's Ballot Guide.)

The story says that Kansas election officials expect 1.2 million people to cast votes in the state today. More than 330,000 people cast advance ballots.  

Check back later for more updates. Additionally, we'll be posting more updates as results begin to roll in this evening. Polls in Kansas close at 7 p.m. 

12: 55 p.m. 

In Kansas, the GOP candidate for president has taken the state every year since 1964. As such, it's a basic assumption that Mitt Romney will take the state again this year. Kansas' history with Republicanism is pretty interesting. Check out this timeline that PoliticalFiber.com reporter Bill Daehler researched about Republicanism in Kansas. 

Kansas: A Republican History on Dipity.

Noon

In 2011, Kansas passed its Voter ID law requiring voters to show a government-issued photo ID at the polls. A quick Twitter search didn't show too many people having problems with this at the polls today, but one person tweeted about feeling like he was being "interrogated" by the folks at the polls.  To read up on Voter ID laws in Kansas, here's PoliticalFiber's Quick and Easy Guide.

10 a.m. 

We're seeing lots of tweets and Facebook posts about young people voting in Kansas. In general, the lines don't appear to be too bad. Most people have reported waits of 10 to 20 minutes. (If you have a different story, feel free to tweet at me @kstroda or email me at kelly[at]politicalfiber.com. I'd love to hear from you.)

Now, though, I'll share this story from the Lawrence Journal-World about womens' voting rights. The state of Kansas approved allowing women to vote in 1912 — eight years before the nation passed the 19th Amendment

8:30 a.m.

Election Day is exciting. We know this. You know this. And of course, what makes any situation even more exciting is great music. By great, I mean "free" and by "free" I mean "on Spotify." 

Here is the playlist we're grooving to in our office at PoliticalFiber.com. No matter your affiliation, party on! 

 

Monday

The only thing barring Kansas from casting its eight electoral votes for Gov. Mitt Romney Tuesday night is a little formality called "voting." Kansas, with its reliably conservative base, has voted for a Republican candidate in every presidential election since 1964 when Lyndon Johnson won in a landslide victory.

But even though Kansas has always been staunchly conservative, it's only recently that Tea Party enthusiasm has swept across the state, wiping out the more moderate Republicans Kansas has been known for in the past. The Election Day battle in Kansas won't be for president — instead, it will be about just how conservative the state is willing to go.

During the Kansas primaries, conservative Republicans were successful in ousting their moderate counterparts who spent much of the last legislative session forming alliances with Senate Democrats to block extreme legislation.  Now they hope to continue the trend by defeating the remaining Democrats. Democrats are expected to lose seats in the Senate and possibly make small gains in the House. Either way, the GOP will be in control of the state legislature, paving the way for Gov. Sam Brownback to implement heavy tax cuts, cuts to funding for arts and education, as well as limitations on access abortion and contraception.

Here are five key things to watch for as results begin coming in:

-       Kansas has implemented some of the most stringent voter ID laws in the nation. How will they affect turnout?

-       Both Salina and Hutchinson, which are located in central Kansas, have ballot initiatives that would remove from their respective anti-discrimination codes protections for LGBTQ people.

-       A devotee of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church, Jack Wu, is running for a seat on the state Board of Education.

-       All four of the state’s U.S. House seats are on the ballot this year, and it’s likely that all four seats will remain Republican.

-       Several tight Senate races are up for grabs as well, including Districts 5, 6 and 21.

Information and reporting from PoliticalFiber.com

PolicyMic will be covering the 2012 election from the state of Kansas live. For live updates, bookmark and refresh this page.