Buckle Your Seatbelt!

As we head into campaign season this year, I expect that there will be a lot of clamoring for attention. There always is, of course, but given the current political landscape, the increasing infusion of AI content, and the fact that in Missouri - and Kansas City particularly - there will be a lot of open seats in addition to some that are up for reelection.

TAKE IT FROM THE TOP - November 3, 2026 Elections

US CONGRESSIONAL RACES

U.S. Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver currently represents the 5th District which is still in dispute about its boundary lines. If the lines adopted by the Missouri Legislature stand, Kansas City will be broken up into three different congressional districts, and KC’s Historic Northeast community will have 3 different congresspersons representing them. The other two districts are the 4th CD represented by Mark Alford, and the 6th CD represented by Sam Graves. All Congresspersons are up for re-election every 2 years, and there are no term limits.

MISSOURI STATE RACES

MISSOURI STATE AUDITOR is the only statewide position that is up for re-election in 2026. It is currently held by Scott Fitzpatrick and it does not have term limits.

MISSOURI STATE SENATE DISTRICT 8 (Lee’s Summit) is an open seat, currently represented by Mike Cierpiot who has reached his 8 year term limit. Currently announced and running for that seat are Representatives Jon Patterson & Keri Ingle who have reached their 8 year term limit as Missouri House Legislators.

MISSOURI HOUSE DISTRICTS are all up for re-election. KC Metro districts are:

14 - Aune (Platte), 15 - Jamison (Gladstone), 16 - Brown (KC), 18 - Woods (NKC), 19 - Thomas (KC), 20 - Steinmeyer (Sugar Creek), 22 - Young (KC), 24 - Weber (KC), 25 - Mansur (KC), 26 - Price (KC), 27 - Douglass (KC), 28 - Barnes (Raytown), 29 - Crossley (Indep), 30 - Patterson (termed Lee’s Summit), 34 - Strickler (Lee’s Summit), 35 - Ingle (termed Lee’s Summit), 36 - Ealy (KC), 37 - Sharp (KC)

JACKSON COUNTY

The Jackson County Executive position will be up for election in November of 2026, and for the 2026 General Election, all At-Large Districts (1st, 2nd, 3rd) and all Numbered Districts (1st through 6th) for the Jackson County Legislature will be on the ballot, as it's a full slate election following reapportionment, affecting all county legislative seats. None of the County elected positions have term limits.

KANSAS CITY, MO CITY COUNCIL APRIL PRIMARY

Which brings us to the KC MO City Council Elections that will come shortly after in April of 2027. In that election, 5 of the 12 city council positions will be open seats due to term limits. An open Mayoral position - also due to term limits has 3 current councilpersons declared as candidates bringing the count of open seats to 8. These are non-partisan elections which means that the primary is open for anyone to run and every voter regardless of their party affiliation will receive the same ballot. The two candidates that receive the highest votes in each election will advance to a general election in June of 2027.

WHAT DO YOU CALL A PIRATE’S PHONE? An Aye Phone

No doubt, if you are reading this, you are also receiving lots of phone calls and messages from campaigners asking you for donations, and I will likely be one of them. This is just a reality for politicians because campaigns cost money. I want you to know that it’s about more than money, though. If I’m calling you it’s because I like you, and I like talking to you. If all you have to offer is a conversation, you have given me a gift. Getting a little break from the calls where no one answers gets me back on track and motivates me to keep going. I am running in the City Council race for District 4, in-district, which covers a part of the Northland, The Riverfront, City Market, East & West Bottoms, Northeast, Westside, Downtown and Hyde Park. In other words, the heart of the city. I am running because I think Kansas City is at a pivotal place when it comes to how we support efforts to raise the quality of services that are necessary for the people who call Kansas City home to pursue healthy and satisfying opportunities for their families. The phone number I will be calling you from is 816-214-2338. If you put this in your contacts, you will know it’s me when I call you.

I’m looking forward to connecting with you.

All the best!

Ingrid

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