Loud Light Kansas Politics Recap: First two weeks of 2026 highlight lack of leadership
The Pitch has partnered with a local political awareness organization called Loud Light. Their goal is to engage and empower individuals from underrepresented populations to build community power. And impact decision-makers. Each week of the year that the Kansas statehouse is in session, they release a short video recapping what the legislature is up to.
Knowing the nitty-gritty of what’s happening with your representatives is the only way to stay involved with the way local government affects your life. You can donate to support Loud Light’s work by clicking here.
Here is this week’s video and transcription:
Welcome to Loud Light’s 10th year covering what’s going down under the Statehouse dome. I’m Davis Hammet and this is what happened the first two weeks of the 2026 Kansas legislative session.
The Leader-less Dynamic
2026 will be a major shake up in Kansas politics. Laura Kelly is in her 8th and final year as Governor. Senate President Ty Masterson is running for Governor and House Speaker Dan Hawkins is running for Insurance Commissioner. This means legislators have little incentive to fall in line to keep the Speaker, President, or Governor happy because any deal or promise made by them today can be undone by their replacements next year. There is not much time for legislators to work either as the legislature will condense and expedite the session for a second year. Further, Masterson and Hawkins begin the session fresh off a big L after their attempt to oust Congresswoman Sharice Davids through mid-decade redistricting failed to gain enough support and caused a fracture within Republican legislators. Leader-less, fractured, fast, and broken– this is the 2026 Kansas Legislative Session.
Election Bills (HB2437 + HB2438)
Tons of bills aimed at overhauling the state’s election system were introduced at the behest of Chairman Rep. Pat Proctor who is running for Secretary of State this year. Already, Proctor has held hearings on bills authorizing the use of various, sometimes undefined, sources of data to hunt for disqualified individuals on the voter roll, banning online voter registration websites unless the Kansas Secretary of State personally approves them, and abolishing local odd-year elections by moving races for cities, school boards, and other local offices onto the even-year ballot with national and statewide races.
Gender Markers on Drivers Licenses (HB2426)
In 2023, the Legislature passed a bill creating a narrow unscientific definition of biological sex. Attorney General Kris Kobach then sued the DMV arguing the new law stops them from allowing transgender Kansans to update the gender on their drivers license. Initially Kobach won a restraining order against the DMV, but last year it was reversed by the Appeals Court who found Kobach ignored the different definitions of “gender” and “sex” in state law, and that Kobach had not provided “evidence— any evidence” that the state is harmed by someone updating their drivers license. The lawsuit is still ongoing, but Kobach appeared before a House Committee last week with a bill he believes would change state law enough that he could win his case in court. Despite short public notice, hundreds of Kansans submitted opposition testimony raising concerns that the bill would allow broad discrimination and create unsafe environments for trans, intersex, two-spirit, and other gender diverse Kansans.
Kobach Sanction
A court sanction was issued against Attorney General Kris Kobach for violating several legal principles. The sanction came from his antics in the ongoing gender marker case where after losing at the Appeals Court for a lack of evidence, Kobach then tried to convince a district judge to ignore the higher court’s order and take extrajudicial actions against the DMV. This is not the first time Kobach has struggled with evidence or sanctions. In 2018, Kobach was sanctioned by a federal judge for ignoring basic rules of evidence at trial and ordered to take remedial legal classes.
Coming Up
Legislative transparency continues to be a growing issue, with the legislature’s website having frequent outages, the GOP supermajority having closed caucus meetings, and bill hearings being scheduled with only a day of notice to the public. While it’s hard to say exactly what bills will gain traction this year, we expect to see debates on banning cellphones in schools, more changes to election law, restricting the social safety net, regulating cryptocurrency and vapes, amendments to the state constitution, and of course, the one and only thing that legislators actually have to do, a balanced state’s budget. Be sure to sign up at loudlight.org to get updates right to your inbox. Stay tuned, stay engaged, and until next time, thank you so much Kansas!
