KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics in Kansas, Missouri and at the local level. Share your story idea with Charlie. KSHB 41 reporter Lily O’Shea Becker covers Franklin and Douglas counties in Kansas. Share your story idea with Lily.
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Voters in parts of Kansas can cast their ballot for the 2024 presidential election.
Advance voting began Wednesday in certain counties, including Douglas and Leavenworth.
Wyandotte and Johnson counties begin early voting Saturday, Oct. 19.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 5.
“It’s always important, but this year just seems to be a little more important to me,” explained Mickey Zacharias, of Leavenworth County.
The majority of voters in Leavenworth County who spoke with KSHB 41 News voted for former President Donald Trump. They listed inflation and immigration as their top priorities.
“He’ll go back and do the things he did before,” Tamara Copeland said. “He’ll tackle the border, fix our economy, our inflation was low. You can’t beat that.”
Mike Kermashek also believes Trump is the best candidate to boost the economy.
“The grocery bill, the gas bill. I want to go back to what we had,” he said.
Marcia Jackson said women’s rights and honest leadership are important to her. Jackson voted for Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Everything matters,” she said. “The real deal is we have to treat people like they’re human beings and stop with the games, stop with the name calling, stop with the violence.”
Eula Hoel was thinking of her nine granddaughters when she voted Wednesday for Harris.
“I want them to know they can go farther than where they are,” Hoel said. “They can become president one day. That would really be great.”
Mike Hanson didn’t feel like Trump or Harris aligned with his moderate conservative viewpoints. He chose a write-in candidate.
“I couldn’t bring myself to vote for either one of them," Hanson said. "I’m sorry America, but that’s the truth."
Former Leavenworth County Commissioner Dennis Bixby is focused on immigration. An undocumented immigrant killed his daughter in a car crash near Tonganoxie in 2007.
“I was separated from my daughter,” Bixby said.
Leavenworth County voters chose Trump in 2020. Joe Biden won Douglas County.
"Well, this is Lawrence. I mean, come on, we're a blue county," said voter Stan Sheldon.
Sheldon, a Lawrence resident, said he voted on Wednesday to fight climate change and to "make sure women's rights get put back in place where they should be."
Douglas County election officials said about 300 voters turned out to vote at the county's clerk and election offices within the first three hours. At times, the line to vote was out the door.
Voters were surprised to see how many people turned out to vote.
"I was very impressed by how organized everything was," said voter Marda Eagan. "It's as if Douglas County anticipated this was going to happen."
Some voted with both national and local issues in mind.
"The economy is killing us, I think the border's been killing us," said Lawrence voter Marcus Falleaf. "We're having tons of problems here in Lawrence with the homeless."
Douglas County election officials estimated around 1,000 people will have voted at the county's clerk and election office by the end of Wednesday.
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