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Kansas, State House, District 51

Kansas House of Representatives District 51
Current incumbentRon Highland Republican Party

Kansas' fifty-first state house district is represented by Republican Representative Ron Highland.

Kansas state representatives represent an average of 22,825 residents. After the 2000 Census, each member represented 21,507 residents.

About the chamber

Members of the Kansas House of Representatives serve two-year terms and are not subject to term limits. Kansas legislators assume office the second Monday of January after their election.

Qualifications

Section 4 of Article 2 of the Kansas Constitution states, "During the time that any person is a candidate for nomination or election to the legislature and during the term of each legislator, such candidate or legislator shall be and remain a qualified elector who resides in his or her district."

Salaries

State legislators
SalaryPer diem
$88.66/day$144/day

Pension

As of 2011, when pensions are calculated for Kansas legislators, their normal annual salary is inflated by nearly $78,000. This is composed of $32,982, which comes from multiplying their daily salary by 372 (the number of days they would work if in session every day and if every month had 31 days), $45,756 from adding in their daily per diem (also based on 372 days) and $7,083 from expense payments. According to former state Senator Steve Morris, this is intended as compensation because of low legislative salaries which are seen as difficult to raise.

Vacancies

The Governor is responsible for filling all vacancies in the house.

The political party committee that last held the vacant seat must call for a convention within 21 days of the vacancy. The convention is designed to select the Governor's appointee and involves all the committeemen and committeewomen that represent the vacant house district.

The committeemen and committeewomen present for voting must approve a replacement on a simple majority vote. Once the vote has been conducted, the party committee must send the paperwork certifying the selection to the Governor within 24 hours or the next business day. The Governor has seven days after receiving the paperwork to act on the appointment.

Elections

2020

Elections for the office of Kansas House of Representatives will take place in 2020. The general election will be held on November 3, 2020. A primary is scheduled for August 4, 2020. The filing deadline is June 1, 2020.

2018

General election
General election for Kansas House of Representatives District 51

Incumbent Ron Highland (R) defeated Noah Wright (D) in the general election for Kansas House of Representatives District 51 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes

Ron Highland (R)
64.6
6,582

Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

Noah Wright (D)
35.4
3,603

Total votes: 10,185
Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 51

Noah Wright advanced from the Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 51 on August 7, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes

Silhouette Placeholder Image.png

Noah Wright (D)
100
851

Total votes: 851
Republican primary election
Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 51

Incumbent Ron Highland advanced from the Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 51 on August 7, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes

Ron Highland (R)
100
3,297

Total votes: 3,297

2016

Elections for the Kansas House of Representatives were held in 2016. The primary election was held on August 2, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2016.

Incumbent Ron Highland defeated Adrienne Olejnik in the Kansas House of Representatives District 51 general election.

Kansas House of Representatives, District 51 General Election, 2016

Party Candidate Vote % Votes
Republican Green check mark transparent.png Ron Highland Incumbent 51.93% 5,783
Democratic Adrienne Olejnik 48.07% 5,354
Total Votes 11,137
Source: Kansas Secretary of State

Adrienne Olejnik ran unopposed in the Kansas House of Representatives District 51 Democratic primary.

Kansas House of Representatives, District 51 Democratic Primary, 2016

Party Candidate
Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Adrienne Olejnik (unopposed)

Incumbent Ron Highland ran unopposed in the Kansas House of Representatives District 51 Republican primary.

Kansas House of Representatives, District 51 Republican Primary, 2016

Party Candidate
Republican Green check mark transparent.png Ron Highland Incumbent (unopposed)

2014

Elections for the Kansas House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election was held on August 5, 2014, and a general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 2, 2014. Incumbent Ron Highland was unopposed in the Republican primary and was unopposed in the general election.

2012

Elections for the office of Kansas House of Representatives consisted of a primary election on August 7, 2012, and a general election on November 6, 2012. The signature-filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 11, 2012. Ron Highland (R) defeated Richard Pikul (D) in the general election. Pikul defeated Scott Briggs in the Democratic primary, while Highland defeated Dee McKee and Keen A. Umbehr in the Republican primary.

Kansas House of Representatives, District 51, General Election, 2012

Party Candidate Vote % Votes
Republican Green check mark transparent.pngRon Highland 70% 6,761
Democratic Richard Pikul 30% 2,899
Total Votes 9,660

Kansas House of Representatives, District 51 Democratic Primary, 2012

Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngRichard Pikul 62.3% 367
Scott Briggs 37.7% 222
Total Votes 589

Kansas House of Representatives, District 51 Republican Primary, 2012

Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngRon Highland 45.2% 1,499
Dee McKee 31.6% 1,048
Keen A. Umbehr 23.2% 771
Total Votes 3,318

Campaign contributions

From 2002 to 2016, candidates for Kansas House of Representatives District 51 raised a total of $441,881. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $20,086 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money.

Campaign contributions, Kansas House of Representatives District 51

Year Amount Candidates Average
2016 $110,415 2 $55,208
2014 $37,176 1 $37,176
2012 $42,258 6 $7,043
2010 $21,160 2 $10,580
2008 $14,958 1 $14,958
2006 $19,783 1 $19,783
2004 $61,514 3 $20,505
2002 $91,664 4 $22,916
2000 $42,953 2 $21,477
Total $441,881 22 $20,086