Trump-backed Kansas AG Schmidt wins governor primary, voters reject pro-life amendment

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt on Tuesday night won the state's GOP gubernatorial primary.

The Associated Press called the race at 9 p.m. with Schmidt having 78% of the vote and about 22% of the vote counted. 

Schmidt defeated businessman Arlyn Briggs and in November will face incumbent Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly easily defeated a primary challenge from Richard Karnowski, earning over 95% of the vote.

The outlet called the results of the state's referendum to explicitly deny a right to abortion at 10:38 p.m. Voters overwhelmingly opposed the constitutional change which would have set the stage for tighter abortion restrictions in the state. The measure failed with 37.8% support to 62.3% opposition.

In the state's Senate race, incumbent Republican Sen. Jerry Moran easily fended off a challenge from Joan Farr, a lawyer who previously ran for Senate in Oklahoma.

Moran received 79.8% of the vote, according to the wire service. Rev. Mark Holland emerged victorious in the Democratic contest, with 42% of the vote as of 10:09 p.m. when the AP called the race.