OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Local experts say young and split voters had a big impact on Tuesday night's election results.
Dr. Andrea Vieux says the election gives us a fresh look at Kansas politics.
"I think it's pretty interesting how from one office to the next office, people were split-ticket voting," she said. “It kind of shows that there’s a lot of people that kind of sit in the middle and pick and choose back and forth.”
New voters, like JCCC sophomore Natalie Medina are driving change.
"One vote can make a lot of an impact," she said.
Medina's concern about abortion rights in Kansas brought her out to the polls, but she made sure to do her research on each of the candidates beforehand.
"It was a very long ballot, so I made sure that I got all the right answers and like, wanted to make sure I had everything right before I headed in," she said.
Vieux added that a large number of non-partisans in the area played a role in getting both republicans and democrats elected.
"There's just so many nonpartisans in this area," she said. "We have a healthy number of registered republicans, and we have a decent number of registered democrats, and then we just have a whole lot of people who refuse to choose."
She added that the younger generation is starting to have an increased role in elections.
"They're more passionate about wanting to be involved," she said. "So in comparison to past young voters, they're just more aware of what's happening, they're more engaged. They're very concerned about their futures and they want to make sure that their voices are heard and they are at that table.
Medina echoed her thoughts.
"We are currently living through history," Medina said. "That's something that I try and think about every single day — that everything we're doing right now is going in the history books in a couple of years, so being able to actually be a part of that history is really important."
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