LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — One of four women who tried to steal 26 pairs of blue jeans worth thousands of dollars has been sentenced to prison.

25-year-old Shaikeece Whisonant, of Grandview, Missouri, was sentenced Tuesday to nearly two years in prison for robbery.

She was one of four women who tried to steal the jeans, worth more than $4,200, from The Buckle in downtown Lawrence. They dropped 22 pairs and ultimately stole only four pairs, valued at $805.

Prosecutors say one of the women maced a store employee and Whisonant punched an employee in the head.

Whisonant, who has three small children, is currently serving a prison sentence for a Johnson County theft conviction. Prosecutors say she 18 prior convictions, mostly misdemeanor theft and traffic cases.

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By SCOTT CANON

Kansas, a state that went for President Donald Trump by 20 points two years ago, on Tuesday turned one of its four Republican seats in Congress to Democrat.

Democratic newcomer Sharice Davids topped incumbent Republican Kevin Yoder in his quest for a fifth term. She beat the Kansas City-area 3rd Congressional District by roughly 9 percentage points.

Another political newcomer, Steve Watkins, was elected to replace fellow Republican U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins in the 2nd Congressional District that covers most of the eastern third of the state. He edged out Democrat and former Kansas House leader Paul Davis.

In the Wichita area, incumbent Republican Rep. Ron Estes won re-election over attorney James Thompson, the same Democrat he beat in a special election last year.

And Republican U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall won another term in the sprawling western Kansas 1st Congressional District, again beating perennial opponent Democrat Alan LaPolice.

Davids became one of the few Native Americans, and perhaps the first American Indian woman, elected to Congress.

3rd District

Davids and Yoder clashed over immigration, as much as anything .

Davids was criticized early in the contest for a podcast appearance where she seemed to call for the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She later walked that back, insisting only that the agency needed reform.

Likewise, Yoder vastly overstated the number of immigrants filing false claims in seeking asylum. He also waffled at times on various immigration issues — at one point this year siding with Democrats on asylum issues, then later joining ranks with the Trump administration.

The two also differed sharply on health care issues. Yoder voted with other Republicans time and again in opposition to the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. For a time, that served him well in his Republican-leaning district. But after Trump took office, Obamacare became increasingly popular. Davids made it a centerpiece of her campaign.

At the Davids party, the room was boisterous when the cable networks began calling the race for her, another seat shifting to Democrats in their hopes of wresting control of the House from Republicans. They did.

“We have a chance to re-set expectations when people look at Kansas,” Davids said to a room full of cheering supporters. “I knew we could do better, and we just did.”

This Kansas district — a mix of largely white and wealthy Johnson County and more diverse and less prosperous Wyandotte County — sent a one-time mixed martial arts fighter and openly lesbian attorney to Washington.

“From the beginning,” Davids told supporters Tuesday night,  “this campaign has been built on bringing new leaders to the table and new voices to the table.”

Across town, the Yoder party began to thin out early, many supporters uninspired by never-say-die backers of the incumbent and a band playing “Lukenbach, Texas.” Yoder had won the seat four times, always by fairly comfortable margins.

Yoder wished Davids good luck and called for unity but said the raise-money-and-run-again merry-go-round of American politics is a problem.

“This perpetual campaign cycle must close,” he said.

The district is again returning to Democratic hands. Dennis Moore served several terms before retiring amid mounting health problems and his wife later lost to Yoder.

2nd District

Watkins emerged from a crowded and bruising primary, where his opponents directed criticism at him that was uncharacteristic of attacks within a party.

But he brought an impressive resume to the race. Watkins is a West Point graduate and combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan. His campaign stumbled in the general election when reporters discovered that he exaggerated, or invented, business and philanthropic accomplishments.

Davis appeared to be a formidable opponent. While he’d lost a bid for governor in 2014, he won within the 2nd District. But that was a race for state office, where Kansans are far more willing to vote for Democrats. In federal races, Republicans tend to enjoy an advantage.

Watkins gave the usual round of thanks for family and campaign workers, but the congressman-elect also mentioned those he’d known in the military academy and in combat. They, he suggested, would appreciate another victory in life.

“I’ve lived to fight another day,” he said.

Davis said Tuesday’s loss marked the end of his political career. He chose to look at Kelly’s victory as the silver lining to his cloudy day.

“We have something to celebrate tonight,” he said. “It’s time for me to turn a page in the next chapter of my life. But I’m not going to back away from the things that I believe in.”

Brian Grimmett, Stephen Koranda, Sam Zeff, Nomin Ujiyediin and Frank Morris contributed to this article.

Scott Canon is digital editor of the Kansas News Service. You can reach him on Twitter @ScottCanon.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – About 58 percent of Missouri’s registered voters turned out to cast ballots in Tuesday’s elections.

The preliminary figures reported Wednesday by the secretary of state’s office would mark the highest turnout in a presidential midterm election since a 59 percent rate in 1994.

The top attraction was the U.S. Senate race in which Republican Attorney General Josh Hawley defeated Democratic incumbent Claire McCaskill. More than 2.4 million people cast votes, and Hawley won with more than 51 percent.

The next highest vote-getter was Constitutional Amendment 2, which legalizes medical marijuana.

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Missouri has joined the long list of states allowing medical marijuana, but it’ll likely be late next year at the earliest before people with cancer, HIV and other serious ailments will be able to obtain it.

Missouri became the 31st state to approve medical marijuana when voters on Tuesday approved Amendment 2 .

Amendment 2 requires the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services to begin accepting applications from patients by early June. The department must begin accepting applications for dispensaries by early August, and accept or reject dispensary applications within 150 days of receiving them.

Potential growers and manufacturers also must apply to the state health department.

KANSAS CITY (AP) – Animal control workers who were called to an east Kansas City home encountered Catfish, a 6-foot alligator that its owner said is as “gentle as a kitten.”

Eventually, a specialist was called to remove the 150-pound alligator. Two boa constrictors and a rabbit also were taken from the home.

The Kansas City Star reports the tenant, Sean Casey, said he owned the alligator for four years and called him “a big cuddly lizard.”

John Baccala, spokesman for the city’s Neighborhood and Housing Services department, says Kansas City does not allow homeowners to have alligators.

None of the four workers who removed the alligator was injured.

Catfish will be housed at the Monkey Island Rescue and Sanctuary in Greenwood for now. The boa and rabbit were taken to an animal shelter.

WASHINGTON (AP) —Attorney General Jeff Sessions has resigned as the country’s chief law enforcement officer.

Sessions announced his plan to resign in a letter to the White House on Wednesday.

We are pleased to announce that Matthew G. Whitaker, Chief of Staff to Attorney General Jeff Sessions at the Department of Justice, will become our new Acting Attorney General of the United States. He will serve our Country well….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2018

President Donald Trump announced in a tweet that Sessions’ chief of staff Matt Whitaker would become the new acting attorney general.

The attorney general had endured more than a year of stinging and personal criticism from Trump over his recusal from the investigation into potential coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign.

Trump blamed the decision for opening the door to the appointment of special counsel Robert Mueller, who took over the Russia investigation and began examining whether Trump’s hectoring of Sessions was part of a broader effort to obstruct justice.

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MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State cornerback Duke Shelley was arrested this week for failure to appear and released after paying a $500 bond, though his status for this weekend’s game against Kansas remains in question.

A school spokesman said any punishment will be handled internally.

The Wildcats’ best cornerback, Shelley had a warrant issued by Manhattan Municipal Court after he was cited for driving without proof of insurance and having expired tags. He was arrested Tuesday.

The senior from Georgia has 33 tackles and three interceptions this season, even though he has missed the past two games with a leg injury. Wildcats coach Bill Snyder expected him to return at some point this season, possibly in time for the Sunflower Showdown against the Jayhawks.

In October police arrested K-State football player Daquan Patton, 21, for failure to appear, according to the Riley County Police Department arrest report.  He failed to pay an earlier speeding ticket, according to RCPD.

Patton is a red shirt junior linebacker from Cedar Park, Texas, according to the KSU football roster.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) – Two men have been charged in the fatal shootings of two ex-roommates in a southwest Missouri home and one of the suspects also is charged with killing a woman one day later.

Twenty-three-year-old Luis Perez was charged Tuesday with three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 38-year-old Steven Marler, 23-year-old Aaron Hampton and 21-year-old Sabrina Starr.

A second man, 19-year-old Aaron Anderson, is charged as an accomplice with murder in the men’s deaths. Starr was believed to be outside the home when the men were killed Thursday and was slain Friday.

They’re jailed without bond in Greene County. No attorneys are listed for them in online court records.

Charging documents say Perez had recently come to Springfield from New Jersey, where he had active warrants. Police say federal authorities believe he’s in the country illegally.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas State University student has been convicted of killing his ex-girlfriend in Wichita.

Jurors found 29-year-old Dane Owens guilty Tuesday of first-degree felony murder and aggravated burglary in the October 2016 killing of 22-year-old Rowena Irani. She was studying psychology at Wichita State University.

Prosecutors say Owens parked his truck several houses away from her home, walked through an unlocked door and fired at her when she walked around a corner. He then left the home without helping her, throwing her cellphone in one pond and his gun in another

Her mother found her several hours later suffering from a gunshot wound to the head, and Irani died the next day. The defense said the shooting wasn’t intentional.

Owens was Sophomore social work major at Kansas State when the shooting happened.

Sentencing is set for Dec. 20.