heartland - November 05 2024

1. Early Voting in Kansas City Metro and Sedgwick County Rises
2. Kansas Legislature Sees 57 Unopposed Races Ahead of 2024 Election
3. Kansas U.S. House Races
4. Boeing Workers End Strike with New Contract, Securing 38% Pay Hike
5. $47 Million Cryptocurrency Scheme Leads to Restitution for Bank Investors
6. Chiefs win overtime thriller over Tampa Bay, move to 8-0

1. Early Voting in Kansas City Metro and Sedgwick County Rises

A. On the eve of the 2024 general election, more than 400,000 people have already cast their votes in the five counties that make up the Kansas City metro area. The metro is served by six election boards, each of which has its own method of tracking early voter turnout. And while lines have stretched for hours at some early voting locations, Election Day will significantly increase the number of polling places available to voters.  Kansas City: 54,168 people have voted so far in the portion of Kansas City within Jackson County. That number combines early in-person voters and absentee ballots received as of 1 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 4. That’s around 23.2% of the 233,970 voters registered in that jurisdiction.   Johnson County: 203,379 people had voted early in Johnson County as of Saturday, Nov. 2, according to advance voting numbers on the county’s election office website. That’s around 42.5% of the county’s 478,877 registered voters as of Thursday, Oct. 31.  

B. The final day of in-person voting Monday, Nov. 4, bumped the turnout percentage in Sedgwick County over 35%, Election Commissioner Laura Rainwater told The Wichita Eagle. The county is expecting to see about 71% registered voter turnout for the 2024 general election. Looking at previous presidential election years, the county saw a 65% turnout in 2016 and a 70% turnout in 2020.

Article Source: KC Star, Wichita Eagle

2. Kansas Legislature Sees 57 Unopposed Races Ahead of 2024 Election

As Republicans and Democrats wait for election results to show whether the GOP retains supermajority control of the Kansas Legislature, several candidates have already effectively won their races. Kansas Secretary of State's Office records show 57 Statehouse candidates — representing a little more than one-third of all legislative races — are running unopposed in the 2024 general election. Republicans currently hold 85 of 125 seats in the House and 29 of 40 seats in the Senate. Those two-thirds majorities give a unified Republican caucus the ability to override vetoes to pass laws and budget line-items while also passing constitutional amendments without Democrat support. Democrats are attempting to break the supermajorities, and would need to either pick up two seats in the House or three in the Senate, while Republicans want to grow their supermajorities.

Article Source: Topeka Capitol-Journal

3. Kansas U.S. House Races

Republicans expected a former Kansas attorney general's political comeback in Tuesday's election to keep an open U.S. House seat in GOP hands while the party faced a tougher challenge in trying to oust the only Democrat in the state's congressional delegation. Republican Derek Schmidt sought the 2nd Congressional District seat held by retiring two-term Republican Rep. Jake LaTurner. Schmidt, who served three terms as attorney general, was coming off a narrow loss in the 2022 governor's race and faced Nancy Boyda, making her own comeback bid as the last Democrat to hold the seat. In the 3rd District in the Kansas City area, Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids faced Republican Prasanth Reddy, a doctor and former vice president of two medical research companies. Most of the district's voters are in suburbs that have been friendly to Davids. In the state's two other districts, Republican Reps. Tracey Mann and Ron Estes were expected to win reelection comfortably. Democrats have held the 2nd District seat previously, but not since Boyda served a single, two-year term and lost her race for reelection in 2008. LaTurner won both of his two terms by about 15 percentage points and would have likely cruised to victory again, but he announced in April that he wanted to spend more time with his children. In the 3rd District, Davids gained national attention when she unseated a Republican incumbent in 2018 as a Native American, lesbian and former mixed martial arts fighter. Republicans still lump her in with the most liberal members of Congress. Her vocal support of abortion rights helps in her district, but she's also positioned herself as a business-friendly and pragmatic centrist.

Article Source: KAKE

4. Boeing Workers End Strike with New Contract, Securing 38% Pay Hike

Boeing’s machinists ratified a new labor deal, ending a paralyzing strike after nearly eight weeks and clearing the way for the plane maker to restart its factories. Workers voted in favor of a contract that delivers a 38% wage increase over the life of the four-year deal for 33,000 machinists in the Pacific Northwest who build most of Boeing’s jets.

Article Source: WSJ

5. $47 Million Cryptocurrency Scheme Leads to Restitution for Bank Investors

Millions of dollars seized by the government as the result of a $47.1 million cryptocurrency scheme will be divided among investors who suffered financial losses. A federal judge ordered the restitution on Monday in the case of a scheme that caused a Kansas bank to fail. In August 2024, Shan Hanes, 53, of Elkhart was sentenced to 293 months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of embezzlement by a bank officer. In the video above, you can see coverage that followed Hanes’ sentencing. While the chief executive officer (CEO) of Heartland Tri-State Bank (HTSB), Hanes initiated outgoing wire transfers of bank funds to a cryptocurrency wallet belonging to third parties. This caused Heartland to collapse, and the bank investors to lose approximately $9 million.

Article Source: KWCH

6. Chiefs win overtime thriller over Tampa Bay, move to 8-0

The Kansas City Chiefs escaped their overtime battle with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with their perfect record intact, but the franchise was far more worried about preserving the health of star quarterback Patrick Mahomes on Monday night. Early in the fourth quarter, Mahomes appeared to suffer a frightening non-contact left ankle injury while flicking a touchdown to Samaje Perine. Despite the score proving crucial in Kansas City’s eventual 30-24 win, not one Chiefs fan at Arrowhead Stadium was in a celebratory mood as they watched their MVP quarterback require the help of medical personnel to get to the sideline. But minutes later, the home crowd released its delayed ovation as Mahomes emerged from the medical tent and jogged back onto the field to lead the Chiefs to victory. It first required a gutsy 15-play touchdown drive in the fourth, which ended with Mahomes drilling DeAndre Hopkins for a go-ahead touchdown, and later in overtime as Mahomes orchestrated a 10-play touchdown drive to propel Kansas City to an 8-0 record. After the game, Mahomes said the injury was a rolled ankle and he plans on playing against Denver on Sunday.

Article Source: NYT

Sources

1. A https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/election/article295022249.html
B https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/election/article295023514.html

2. https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/11/05/kansas-legislature-has-57-unopposed-races-out-of-165-seats/75996435007/

3. https://www.kake.com/home/the-gop-expects-to-keep-kansas-open-house-seat-democratic-rep-davids-looks-tough-to/article_c49c3e14-9b79-11ef-8870-abf8750a3002.html

4. https://www.wsj.com/business/boeing-union-votes-to-end-strike-1b6cb89d?st=NSUd93&reflink=article_copyURL_share

5. https://www.kwch.com/2024/11/05/investors-who-suffered-losses-sw-kansas-bank-closing-cryptocurrency-scam-awarded-restitution/

6. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5899459/2024/11/04/chiefs-buccaneers-takeaways-result/?source=user_shared_article