Kansas' 4th Congressional District election, 2026 (August 4 Democratic primary)
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← 2024
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| Kansas' 4th Congressional District |
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| Democratic primary Republican primary General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: June 1, 2026 |
| Primary: August 4, 2026 General: November 3, 2026 |
| How to vote |
| Poll times:
7 a.m. to 7 p.m. |
| Race ratings |
DDHQ and The Hill: Pending Inside Elections: Solid Republican Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Republican |
| Ballotpedia analysis |
| U.S. Senate battlegrounds U.S. House battlegrounds Federal and state primary competitiveness Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2026 |
| See also |
U.S. Senate • 1st • 2nd • 3rd • 4th Kansas elections, 2026 U.S. Congress elections, 2026 U.S. Senate elections, 2026 U.S. House elections, 2026 |
A Democratic Party primary takes place on August 4, 2026, in Kansas' 4th Congressional District to determine which Democratic candidate will run in the district's general election on November 3, 2026.
| Candidate filing deadline | Primary election | General election |
|---|---|---|
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. In Kansas, parties decide who may vote in their primaries. As of October 2025, the Democratic Party held an open primary and the Republican Party held a closed primary. Regardless of the party's rules, an unaffiliated voter can declare their affiliation with a party on the day of the primary and vote in that party's primary. Previously affiliated voters who want to change their affiliation to vote in a different party's primary must do so before the candidate filing deadline, which is June 1 or the next business day.[1][2]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
This page focuses on Kansas' 4th Congressional District Democratic primary. For more in-depth information on the district's Republican primary and the general election, see the following pages:
- Kansas' 4th Congressional District election, 2026 (August 4 Republican primary)
- Kansas' 4th Congressional District election, 2026
Candidates and election results
Note: The following list includes official candidates only. Ballotpedia defines official candidates as people who:
- Register with a federal or state campaign finance agency before the candidate filing deadline
- Appear on candidate lists released by government election agencies
Democratic primary
Democratic primary for U.S. House Kansas District 4
The following candidates are running in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Kansas District 4 on August 4, 2026.
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 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Candidate profiles
This section includes candidate profiles that may be created in one of two ways: either the candidate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey, or Ballotpedia staff may compile a profile based on campaign websites, advertisements, and public statements after identifying the candidate as noteworthy. For more on how we select candidates to include, click here.
Party: Democratic Party
Incumbent: No
Submitted Biography: "I believe in justice, freedom, and opportunity for all. I am a husband, father and son and believe in strong Kansas, midwest, common sense family values. I'm a 31 year veteran, began as a Private in the Army and retired as a Colonel in the Air Force. I'm proud to call myself a Kansan and multi-generational midwesterner. Chris is running for Congress to serve Kansans the same way he served his country — with strong leadership grounded with integrity, fairness, and respect for everyone. As the father of a police officer, Chris knows that safe communities start with trust. Good officers need to be supported and encouraged while making sure that no one is above the law, including those enforcing it. Guided by fairness and common sense, Chris is listening, ready to lead, and support the needs of all Kansans — no matter their background or political beliefs."
Party: Democratic Party
Incumbent: No
Submitted Biography: "Hello, I am Cole Epley, a 28-year-old born-and-raised Wichitan. With a professional background in education and foster care social work, as well as 10 years and counting of service in the US Army Reserves, what gets me out of bed every day is getting the chance to advocate for people who need it most. I am a proud progressive who, amongst the vast number of political issues today, wants most to help defend the Department of Education, abolish ICE, create safer and easier means of legal immigration, and advocate for federal-level protections for LGBTQ+ and women’s reproductive rights. I want to restore higher taxes (as well as more financial accountability) for the 1% and corporations. I believe that we need to better subsidize local and family farms, helping them through bad years so we can all prosper from their success in good years. Finally, I strongly support universal healthcare, universal higher education, universal childcare, and even the far-off goal of universal basic income. From day one, my campaign has been 100% grassroots funded. It would be my honor to be your advocate in D.C., and I will not stop working to earn your support and your vote."
Voting information
- See also: Voting in Kansas
Campaign finance
| Name | Party | Receipts* | Disbursements** | Cash on hand | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Carmichael | Democratic Party | $25,886 | $8,605 | $17,281 | As of December 31, 2025 |
| Cole Epley | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Ryan Gilbert | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Jordan Mitchell | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
| Daniel Schneider | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | As of November 14, 2025 |
| Katy Tyndell | Democratic Party | $0 | $0 | $0 | Data not available*** |
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Source: Federal Elections Commission, "Campaign finance data," 2026. This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* According to the FEC, "Receipts are anything of value (money, goods, services or property) received by a political committee." |
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District analysis
Click the tabs below to view information about voter composition, past elections, and demographics in both the district and the state.
- District map - A map of the district in place for the election.
- Competitiveness - Information about the competitiveness of 2026 U.S. House elections in the state.
- Presidential elections - Information about presidential elections in the district and the state.
- State party control - The partisan makeup of the state's congressional delegation and state government.
Below is the district map in place for this election. Click the map below to enlarge it.
Partisan Voter Index
Heading into the 2026 elections, based on results from the 2024 and 2020 presidential elections, the Cook Partisan Voter Index for this district is R+12. This meant that in those two presidential elections, this district's results were 12 percentage points more Republican than the national average. This made Kansas' 4th the 103rd most Republican district nationally.[3]
2020 presidential election results
The table below shows what the vote in the 2024 presidential election was in this district. The presidential election data was compiled by The Downballot.
Kamala Harris  | Donald Trump  |
|---|---|
| 37.0% | 61.0% |
Presidential voting history
- See also: Presidential election in Kansas, 2024
Kansas presidential election results (1900-2024)
- 5 Democratic wins
- 27 Republican wins
| Year | 1900 | 1904 | 1908 | 1912 | 1916 | 1920 | 1924 | 1928 | 1932 | 1936 | 1940 | 1944 | 1948 | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1996 | 2000 | 2004 | 2008 | 2012 | 2016 | 2020 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winning Party | R | R | R | D | D | R | R | R | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
- See also: Party control of Kansas state government
Congressional delegation
The table below displays the partisan composition of Kansas' congressional delegation as of October 2025.
| Congressional Partisan Breakdown from Kansas | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | U.S. Senate | U.S. House | Total |
| Democratic | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Republican | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vacancies | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 2 | 4 | 6 |
State executive
The table below displays the officeholders in Kansas' top four state executive offices as of October 2025.
| Office | Officeholder |
|---|---|
| Governor | Laura Kelly |
| Lieutenant Governor | David Toland |
| Secretary of State | Scott Schwab |
| Attorney General | Kris Kobach |
State legislature
Kansas State Senate
| Party | As of October 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 9 | |
| Republican Party | 31 | |
| Other | 0 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | |
| Total | 40 | |
Kansas House of Representatives
| Party | As of October 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Democratic Party | 37 | |
| Republican Party | 88 | |
| Other | 0 | |
| Vacancies | 0 | |
| Total | 125 | |
Trifecta control
Kansas Party Control: 1992-2025
No Democratic trifectas • Sixteen years of Republican trifectas
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
| Senate | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
| House | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R |
Ballot access
The table below details filing requirements for U.S. House candidates in Kansas in the 2026 election cycle. For additional information on candidate ballot access requirements in Kansas, click here.
| Filing requirements for U.S. House candidates, 2026 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Office | Party | Signatures required | Filing fee | Filing deadline | Source |
| Kansas | U.S. House | Ballot-qualified party | Two percent of the party’s total voter registration from the district | One percent of the salary of the office plus a $20 administrative fee | 6/1/2026 | Source |
| Kansas | U.S. House | Unaffiliated | Four percent of the registered voters from the district; at least 25 signatures of Kansas voters but no more than 5,000 voters | N/A | 8/3/2026 | Source |
See also
- Kansas' 4th Congressional District election, 2026 (August 4 Republican primary)
- Kansas' 4th Congressional District election, 2026
- United States House elections in Kansas, 2026 (August 4 Democratic primaries)
- United States House elections in Kansas, 2026 (August 4 Republican primaries)
- United States House Democratic Party primaries, 2026
- United States House Republican Party primaries, 2026
- United States House of Representatives elections, 2026
- U.S. House battlegrounds, 2026
External links
Footnotes
