Kansas State Senate District 38

Kansas State Senate District 38 is represented by Ronald Ryckman (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Kansas state senators represented an average of 73,522 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 71,595 residents.

About the chamber

Members of the Kansas State Senate serve four-year terms and are not subject to term limits. Kansas legislators assume office the second Monday of January after their election.^[1]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

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."^[2]

Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries

State legislative salaries, 2024^[3]
Salary	Per diem
$86.66/session day	$166/day

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the Kansas State Legislature, the governor is responsible for appointing a replacement, and a special election is held if the vacancy occurs before May 1 of the second year of the officeholder's term. If the vacancy occurs after or on May 1 of the officeholder's second year, the governor is responsible for appointing a replacement, and that person serves out the rest of the term.^[4]^[5]^[6]

See sources: Kansas Stat. Ann. §25-3903 and Kansas Stat. Ann. §25-312

District map

Redistricting

2020 redistricting cycle

See also: Redistricting in Kansas after the 2020 census

Kansas enacted legislative district boundaries on May 18, 2022, when the Kansas Supreme Court unanimously upheld the validity of the legislative districts that Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) signed into law on April 15, 2022.^[7]^[8] Both chambers of the legislature passed the redistricting legislation on March 30, 2022, after a joint House-Senate conference committee had developed it.^[9] The Kansas House of Representatives approved the legislative boundaries, 83-40, and the State Senate approved them, 29-11.^[9]After Kelly signed the maps, Andrew Bahl and Rafael Garcia of the Topeka Capital-Journal wrote, "The state Senate and House maps were mildly contested in the Legislature, particularly in the Senate where the map will create a fourth, Democrat-leaning district in Topeka and Lawrence."^[10]

How does redistricting in Kansas work? In Kansas, the state legislature draws both congressional and state legislative district lines. Redistricting plans are subject to veto by the governor. State legislative district maps must be submitted for final approval to the Kansas Supreme Court, which must determine whether the maps are constitutional. If the court rules that the maps violate the law, the state legislature may attempt to draw the lines again. There are no such provisions in place for congressional redistricting.^[11]

In 2002, Kansas adopted guidelines for congressional and state legislative redistricting. These guidelines ask that "both congressional and state legislative districts be contiguous, as compact as possible, and recognize and consider communities of common 'social, cultural, racial, ethnic, and economic' interests." In addition, these guidelines stipulate that state legislative districts should "preserve existing political subdivisions and avoid contests between incumbents to the extent possible." Congressional districts should "preserve whole counties and maintain the core of existing districts where possible." The state legislature may amend these guidelines at its discretion.^[11]

Kansas State Senate District 38
until January 12, 2025

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Kansas State Senate District 38
starting January 13, 2025

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Elections

2024

General election

General election for Kansas State Senate District 38

Incumbent Ronald Ryckman defeated Jose Lara in the general election for Kansas State Senate District 38 on November 5, 2024.

	Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Ronald Ryckman (R)	73.7	14,112
	Jose Lara (D)	26.3	5,023

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 19,135
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Kansas State Senate District 38

Jose Lara advanced from the Democratic primary for Kansas State Senate District 38 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jose Lara	100.0	395

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 395
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Kansas State Senate District 38

Incumbent Ronald Ryckman advanced from the Republican primary for Kansas State Senate District 38 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Ronald Ryckman	100.0	3,940

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,940
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2022

See also: Kansas state legislative special elections, 2022

A special election for Kansas State Senate District 38 was called for November 8, 2022. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2022.^[12]

The seat became vacant after Bud Estes (R) passed away on February 13, 2021, due to an illness.^[13]^[14] Ronald Ryckman (R) was appointed to fill the vacant seat by District 38's Republican precinct committees on March 4, 2021.^[15]