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The Latest: Voter turnout appears heavy across Kansas

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the midterm election in Kansas (all times local):

A Republican voter in Topeka has cast his ballot for GOP nominee Steve Watkins in the 2nd Congressional District because he worries that Democrats are just too liberal.

Dane Kenney said Tuesday after voting that he has some misgivings about President Donald Trump’s public statements and his tweeting. Kenny is a 46-year-old heating and air-conditioning systems repairman.

Trump endorsed Watkins, a former Army officer and government contractor. Kenney said he likes the president’s policies on taxes and immigration.

Kenney said he voted against Democrat Paul Davis because, in his words, “Honestly, I can’t do liberal.”

Davis has pitched himself as a moderate, but Watkins and other Republicans have portrayed him as a liberal. Kenney said ads for both campaigns were too negative.

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1:15 p.m.

A western Kansas town that was sued after moving its only polling site to a facility outside city limits is giving rides to voters that show up at the old site.

The Wichita Eagle reports that drivers were on hand Tuesday to drive people from the old Dodge City voting location to the new one, which is more than a mile from the nearest bus stop. The ACLU lost a lawsuit to force a second Dodge City polling site.

Among those catching rides in the City’s Convention and Visitors Bureau van were Mohamed Yaaqoub and Ezedeen Younes. They came to America from the Sudan and work at a meatpacking plant.

But at the polls, both had to vote provisional ballots. Yaaquoub didn’t have the proper ID and Younes had changed his address since he registered.

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Republican Kansas Secretary of Kris Kobach says voter turnout appears to be heavy.

Kobach talked to reporters Tuesday in Lecompton as he cast his own ballot for governor. He is running for the seat against Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly. She is wooing GOP moderates who are put off by Kobach’s hardline stances on issues such as immigration, while Kobach expects his conservative base to turn out to counter enthusiasm on the left.

A wild card is Independent candidate Greg Orman, a Kansas City-area businessman, who Democrats fear could take enough votes to hand the election to Kobach.

Lines have been reported in locations that include Salina.

Kansas Democrats are also hoping to flip two GOP held U.S. House seats in the eastern part of the state.

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7:05 a.m.

Voters have started casting ballots in Kansas’ closely watched governor’s race and in two hotly contested U.S. House seats.

The race for governor between Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly was a toss-up in the campaign’s final weekend. Kelly is wooing GOP moderates who are put off by Kobach’s hardline stances on issues such as immigration, while Kobach expects his conservative base to turn out to counter enthusiasm on the left. A wild card is Independent candidate Greg Orman.

In eastern Kansas, incumbent Rep. Kevin Yoder is facing a formidable challenge from Democratic newcomer Sharice Davids, who would be the nation’s first LGBT Native American in Congress. And Republican Steve Watkins and Democrat Paul Davis are battling for the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Rep. Lynn Jenkins.

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