Jeff Colyer and a Review of Kansas Gubernatorial Comeback Bids
Ex-Kansas governors have failed in all nine attempts to return to the state’s highest elected post
Former Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer launched his 2026 gubernatorial campaign on Wednesday, seeking the Republican nomination in next year’s open seat election.
Colyer served nearly two full terms as Lieutenant Governor before ascending to the governorship after Sam Brownback resigned in January 2018 to become U.S Ambassador at-large for international religious freedom.
Colyer then lost the most narrowly decided Kansas gubernatorial primary in state history – falling 0.1 percentage points short of victory behind Secretary of State Kris Kobach.
An attempted comeback in the 2022 cycle was cut short after just four months on the campaign trail, nearly a year before the primary, following a prostate cancer diagnosis.
But if Colyer succeeds this cycle, he will make the Kansas history books.
To date, former Kansas governors have landed on the state’s primary or general election ballot nine times in bids to return to their old seat. All nine attempts were unsuccessful.
Kansas’ first statehood governor, Republican Charles Robinson, made two comeback attempts after his lone term in office (1861-1863).
Nearly two decades after leaving office, Robinson was the 1882 gubernatorial nominee of the Greenback (Anti-Monopoly Labor) Party. He won 11.7 percent of the vote placing a distant third in a race won by former Democratic state legislator George Washington Glick.
Robinson made another attempt in 1890 as the Democratic nominee and more than doubled his support from eight years prior but still landed in third place with 24.2 percent behind former GOP Lieutenant Governor Lyman Humphrey and People’s nominee (and former Republican state legislator) John Willits.
Former Democratic state legislator Jonathan Davis (1923-1925) lost his first gubernatorial bid in 1920 by nearly 20 points to Governor Henry Allen as Warren Harding carried the state by more than 32 points at the top of the ticket. But in 1922, Davis rode the national Democratic wave and flipped the open seat by 3.5 points against former Lieutenant Governor William Morgan.
Davis was blown out by 21.3 points in 1924 during his reelection bid by GOP Lieutenant Governor Ben Paulen, but tried for a comeback again two years later in 1926. Davis narrowly won his fourth straight nomination for the office by just one point, but lost his rematch against Governor Paulen by 28.0 points.
Republican Clyde Reed (1929-1931) became the first sitting governor of three in state history to lose a primary during his 1930 reelection bid.
In 1942, four years after winning a U.S. Senate seat, Reed sought a return to the governor’s office but placed third with 25.3 percent in a four-candidate GOP primary field won by former Ness City Mayor Andrew Schoeppel.
Democrat Harry Woodring (1931-1933) lost a second term by less than a point to former state GOP Chair Alf Landon but made two attempts to return to office.
In 1946, Woodring easily won his party’s primary but lost the open seat general election to Republican U.S. Representative Frank Carlson. Woodring would make one final attempt, but lost the 1956 Democratic primary by 0.6 points to 1954 nominee George Docking – the third closest gubernatorial primary in Kansas history.
In that same 1956 cycle, Republican Governor Fred Hall (1955-1957) was defeated in his party’s primary by 11.2 points by state legislator Warren Shaw.
Hall attempted a comeback in 1958, but newspaper publisher Clyde Reed, Jr. trounced him in the GOP primary by 60 points.
Republican John Anderson (1961-1965) took a decade off from campaigning until vying for the GOP gubernatorial nomination again in 1972. He finished second in the primary with 29.6 percent – 17 points behind state Representative Morris Kay.
Prior to Colyer, the last ex-governor to attempt a return to office was Democrat John Carlin (1979-1987) in 1990. Carlin faced sitting Treasurer Joan Finney in the primary and lost by 1.1 points – the third closest Democratic gubernatorial primary in state history.
Just like in 2018, Colyer will once again be running against an elected statewide official as he vies for the GOP nomination. Secretary of State Scott Schwab is among the handful of GOP candidates who have jumped into the 2026 race.
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– In addition to Schwab, Vicki Schmidt (insurance commissioner, a post once held by Governor Kathleen Sebelius) and even Kris Kobach may make a bid, perhaps making for a rather congested primary election, though unsurprising for the dominant party.
– The state has had an ‘eight (or less)-and-out’ rotation from the 1966 gubernatorial election. Except for 2022 (coming right after the Dobbs v Jackson decision) no presidential party has won the election after 1986. Will the rotation continue, or will the MAGA regime be unpopular enough for the beleaguered Democrats to post a third consecutive win?