From the Topeka Capital Journal...
Freshmen Rep. Lynn Jenkins will return to Washington, D.C., in January as the senior member of Kansas' all-Republican delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Jenkins, the only incumbent Kansas congressional representative who sought re-election, handily defeated two challengers in the 2nd District race. The unofficial tally at 11:10 p.m. had Jenkins with 62 percent of the vote, compared to 33 percent for Democrat Cheryl Hudspeth and 5 percent for Libertarian Robert Garrard.
In what will be her second term, Jenkins, a former state legislator and state treasurer who two years ago made Democrat Nancy Boyda a one-term congresswoman by defeating her 51 percent to 26 percent, will be joined in the House by three freshman GOP congressmen: Tim Huelskamp, 1st District; Kevin Yoder, 3rd District; and Mike Pompeo, 4th District.
Huelskamp and Pompeo retained their districts for the Republican Party, but Yoder's capture of the 3rd District seat held since 1999 by Democrat Dennis Moore, who didn't seek re-election, contributed to the GOP takeover of the U.S. House.
Jenkins said she was looking forward to the next Congress when she will be part of the majority party in the House. Acknowledging her role in the current Congress was to say "no" to most of the initiatives of President Barack Obama and Speaker Nancy Paolsi, particularly the national health care program, Jenkins said, "I'm looking forward to saying 'yes,' " as she works to repeal so-called Obama-care and replace it with a GOP plan while also reigning in federal spending.
