TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Immigration hardliner Kris Kobach led Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer by less than 200 votes Wednesday following the state’s Republican primary election for governor, and it will be days before the race is settled.

But Kobach isn’t waiting: He said Republicans can’t afford to delay campaigning for the general election and he plans to will start immediately. Kobach acknowledged during a news conference that his lead may disappear when all votes are counted, but he said it’s imperative that the party not wait — because Democrats won’t.

The election is a test of whether President Donald Trump’s endorsement of Kobach could help the secretary of state despite an aggressive, no-apologies brand of conservative that has alienated even some fellow Republicans.

Kobach is perhaps Trump’s closest ally in Kansas: He advised the White House and served as vice chairman of a now-disbanded election fraud commission.

Colyer raised more campaign contributions, was endorsed by the National Rifle Association and has the backing of Kansas political legend, former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole. Colyer became governor in January, succeeding Sam Brownback after the former governor was appointed by Trump to an ambassador’s post.

The two candidates sent their supporters home early Wednesday from election night watch parties when results were slow from the state’s most populous county, Johnson County in the Kansas City area, which has 23 percent of the state’s registered voters. The county suffered problems with new voting machines.

Kobach urged supporters who’d gathered in the ballroom of a Topeka hotel to get some sleep early Wednesday. He ended his remarks on a conciliatory note that contrasted sharply with the final weeks of his campaign.

“This has been a very tough scrimmage,” Kobach said. “I want everybody to join together, regardless, stand for the principles we all believe in.”

Colyer released a statement saying he was not conceding, citing the closeness of the vote and the “extraordinary problems” in Johnson County, adding: “We are committed to ensuring that every legal vote is counted accurately throughout the canvassing process.”

Kansas has no automatic recounts in elections. In a primary, a candidate must ask and pay for a recount regardless of how close the race finishes.

State law also allows mail-in ballots postmarked Tuesday to be counted if they arrive within three days of the election. County officials also still must review so-called provisional ballots, which are issued to voters when there is a question about whether they are eligible to vote at a particular polling place.

The secretary of state’s office estimated that between 8,000 and 10,000 provisional ballots were cast in the election. County officials don’t begin certifying their results until Monday.

Colyer was trying to avoid becoming the first Kansas governor to lose a primary since 1956, and the first nationally since Hawaii’s Neil Abercrombie lost a Democratic primary in 2014.

Kobach built a national reputation as a conservative agitator for both tough immigration policies and strict voter identification laws. He was an early supporter of Trump in the 2016 presidential race, advised him during the campaign and in the White House.

During his campaign for governor, Kobach repeatedly said: “I don’t back down. I double down.” He even rode in parades in a Jeep with a replica machine gun mounted on back, and stepped up its use after the vehicle’s appearance in a July parade in the Kansas City area spurred criticism.

Some Republicans worry that Kobach’s aggressive personality would make it harder to appeal to a broader electorate and give Democrats an opening in a red state that has been willing to elect Democrats as governor in the past.

After voting for Colyer in Topeka, Carolyn Wojakowksi, a 71-year-old retired teacher, said she supported Colyer because she believes he has the better chance of winning the Nov. 6 general election. As for Kobach, she said: “He’s alienated himself from part of the people in Kansas by his strong stance.”

In the Democratic race, voters nominated veteran state Sen. Laura Kelly, of Topeka, to settle their first contested primary for governor since 1998.

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By Leslie Eikleberry 

SALINE COUNTY—  Six head of cattle died in an accident Wednesday in Saline County.

Undersheriff Brent Melander said a 1996 Peterbilt semi driven by Jimmy Grissman, 34, Duncan, OK, was westbound in the 4200 Block of Kansas Highway 4 between Woodward and Simpson Roads.

The rig traveled off the edge of the road and as the driver attempted to correct, the weight of the cattle shifted and the vehicle rolled onto its side in the ditch with 65 head of cattle trapped inside.

Salina Fire Department personnel took the department’s heavy rescue vehicle to the scene and with the assistance of local farmers and ranchers, cut open the top of the trailer to free the cattle.

One of the local farmers brought a portable cattle pen which was set up around the truck to corral the cattle, however, seven to eight escaped and located south of the accident scene Tuesday night.

The tractor-trailer rig was towed from the scene and a hazmat cleanup was done because some diesel fuel was spilled in the accident, according to Melander.

Grissman was not injured. Kansas Highway 4 was shut down briefly to allow crews to complete the cleanup.

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

11 a.m.

A Kansas state representative says it was a “day full of paradox” after winning the Republican primary for secretary of state exactly two years after his 10-year-old son was decapitated on a giant water slide.

Rep. Scott Schwab, of Olathe, says he and his family didn’t spend Tuesday “caring a whole lot about politics.” Schwab’s son, Caleb Schwab, died on Aug. 7, 2016, when his raft went airborne while he was riding the 17-story Verruckt water slide at the Schlitterbahn park in Kansas City, Kansas.

Schwab said during his victory speech at an Overland Park hotel that he and his family would love to have Caleb on the stage with them. He said they “took a moment and said, ‘God, say hi to him for us.'”

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Kansas state Rep. Scott Schwab, best known as the father of a boy who died in a Kansas City water park accident, has won the Republican primary for secretary of state.

Schwab prevailed in a five-person race Tuesday for the GOP nomination. He is the Kansas House speaker pro tem and has served 14 years in the Legislature.

His 10-year-old son, Caleb, was killed in August 2016 while riding on what was billed as the world’s tallest waterslide at the Schlitterbahn park in Kansas City, Kansas.

Schwab is from Olathe and will face Democrat Brian McClendon, a former Uber and Google executive from Lawrence.

The GOP hasn’t lost a secretary of state’s race since 1948.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on the race (all times local):

10a.m.

Sharice Davids has shattered the mold for a congressional primary winner from Kansas as the state’s first Native American and gay nominee for Congress.

The 38-year-old attorney and activist prevailed in a close six-candidate Democratic primary and will face four-term Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder.

The @KCStar has called it – I’m humbled to be your Democratic nominee in #KS03.

Thank you to my 5 fellow Dem candidates, who were each a part of energizing our district throughout the primary. I look forward to working w/ them & all of you to change the face of KS politics. pic.twitter.com/xbcc9IzRkt

— Sharice Davids (@sharicedavids) August 8, 2018

Davids also is a former mixed martial arts fighter who introduced herself to fellow Democrats with a video showing her in the ring and landing solid kicks to a large punching bag.

She was raised by a single mother and earned a law degree from Cornell University. She was a White House fellow during Barack Obama’s presidency.

Democrats are targeting Yoder this fall because Democrat Hillary Clinton narrowly won the district in the 2016 presidential race.

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TOPEKA— Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach had a slim 191 vote lead in the tight Republican gubernatorial primary race, according to Unofficial results.

Johnson County, which has nearly 23 percent of the state’s voters suffered problems with new voting machines and didn’t report vote totals until after 7 a.m. Wednesday.

#ksleg pic.twitter.com/stahDkrPai

— Dr. Jeff Colyer (@DrJeffColyer) August 8, 2018

Kansas has no automatic recount procedure and if a recount is requested it must be paid for by the candidate requesting it.

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Immigration hardliner Kris Kobach and Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer were awaiting the outcome of their tight Republican primary race Wednesday in a key test of whether President Donald Trump’s late endorsement would prove decisive for Kobach.

The two campaigns for governor sent their supporters home from election night watch parties with the race still too-close-to-call and results still trickling in from the state’s most populous county in the Kansas City area — where Colyer initially was leading.

Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state, built a national reputation as a conservative agitator for both tough immigration policies and strict voter identification laws. He was an early supporter of Trump in the presidential race, advised him during the campaign and in the White House, and served as vice chairman of a now-disbanded presidential commission on election fraud.

But Colyer — who only became governor in January, succeeding Sam Brownback — raised more in campaign contributions than Kobach, received the endorsement of the National Rifle Association, and had the backing of Kansas political legend, former U.S. Senator Bob Dole.

Kobach and Colyer were virtually tied atop a seven-candidate field early Wednesday with most of the outstanding results from Johnson County, which has nearly 23 percent of the state’s voters.

Kansas has no automatic recount procedure and if a recount is requested it must be paid for by the candidate requesting it.

Some Republicans worried that if Kobach won, his aggressive personality would make it harder to appeal to a broader electorate and give Democrats an opening in a red state that has been willing to elect Democrats as governor in the past. Democrats nominated veteran state Sen. Laura Kelly, of Topeka, to settle their first contested primary for governor since 1998.

Trump intervened in the race less than 24 hours before polls opened, endorsing Kobach in a tweet. Kobach told reporters that the endorsement “came just in time” and that he expected it to help him, as it has helped other candidates in other races. Trump’s tweet backing Georgia Republican governor hopeful Brian Kemp vaulted him to an easy primary runoff win two weeks ago. Trump also on Tuesday boasted that his rally over the weekend for the Republican in an Ohio House district had helped, even though that race was too-close-to-call.

Richard Cronister, a 73-year-old retired construction company owner from Topeka, said that Trump’s endorsement was important to him as he voted for Kobach. He said he thinks Trump’s tax cuts have helped the economy and likes Trump’s stance against illegal immigration. As for Kobach, Cronister said, “He is doing his best to stop immigration and the illegal voting. The ACLU and all those organizations are against him.”

But Bruce Underwood, a 59-year-old engineer, said he voted for Colyer because he believes Kobach is “detrimental” to Kansas. He said he would likely vote for a Democrat in the general election because Republicans aren’t standing up to Trump.

“Trump is supporting Kobach and I just can’t stand Trump, he is not good for our country,” Underwood said.

Like the president, Kobach promises a no-apologies style, telling voters repeatedly: “I don’t back down. I double down.” His use of a Jeep with a replica gun mounted on top during campaign stops at local parades this summer prompted backlash. Kobach called his critics “snowflakes” and continued to use the Jeep.

Kobach’s penchant for provoking outrage could serve him well in a crowded seven-candidate Republican primary Tuesday. Kansas does not hold runoff elections so the winner in the primary will move on to November.

Kelly, a 14-year veteran of the Legislature, defeated former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, who had sought to be the first-ever black nominee, and ex-Kansas Agriculture Secretary Joshua Svaty, who had stressed his youth and potential rural appeal.

The mild-mannered Colyer is seeking a full four-year term after moving up from lieutenant governor in January when the unpopular Brownback took an ambassador position in Trump’s administration. Colyer’s defeat would mark the first primary loss by a sitting Kansas governor since 1956 and the first nationally since Hawaii’s Neil Abercrombie lost a primary in 2014.

Besides Colyer and Kobach, the other major GOP candidates, Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer and former state Sen. Jim Barnett, were far behind.

While the marquee race in Kansas this year is for governor, voters also were picking candidates to contest two House seats that Democrats are hoping to flip in November.

RIVER FALLS, Wis. — Authorities say a Missouri roofer is accused of intentionally using a circular saw to fatally injure a co-worker while working on a project in Western Wisconsin.

Just after 4:30 p.m. Monday, deputies with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office were called to a home on County Road FF, according to a media release.

When they arrived, they found an unconscious man on the roof with “severe lacerations to the neck and face.” He was later pronounced dead at the scene.

A preliminary investigation determined a fellow roofer,  24-year-old Maguel A. Navarro, of  Missouri likely caused the injuries to the victim with a circular saw. He was taken into custody and remains in the Pierce County Jail on suspicion of intentional homicide.

The victim was identified as 37-year-old Israel Valles-Flores of Missouri.

Navarro remained jailed, according to the sheriff’s office booking report. Authorities released no additional details Tuesday.

JEFFERSON CITY —Missouri voters have rejected a right-to-work law banning mandatory union fees in workplace contracts.

The vote Tuesday marked a major victory for unions, which poured millions of dollars into a campaign to defeat Proposition A.

The right-to-work law originally was enacted in 2017 by Missouri’s Republican-led Legislature and governor. But it never took effect, because unions gathered enough petition signatures to force a public referendum on it.

Unions argued the measure would have led to lower wages, while business groups claimed it could have led to more jobs. Economic studies showed mixed and sometimes conflicting results.

Twenty-seven other states have similar laws against compulsory union fees, including five Republican-led states that have acted since 2012 — Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Kentucky.

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WESTERVILLE, Ohio (AP) — The Latest on primaries in Missouri.

9:30 p.m.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley has won the Republican nomination in one of the nation’s most hotly contested Senate races.

Voters on Tuesday picked Hawley as expected over 10 other GOP challengers in the race for Democrat Claire McCaskill’s seat. He was the only candidate to have previously won a statewide election and had considerably more money than the other Republicans in the field. He’s backed by President Donald Trump.

Republicans are eyeing the now-Democratic seat as a prime pickup opportunity in a state Trump won by nearly 19 points.

A McCaskill-Hawley matchup is expected to be one of the nation’s top showdowns. McCaskill is running as a moderate in the red state. Hawley is campaigning largely on support for Trump. He is attempting to paint his rival as a liberal obstructionist.

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9:25 p.m.

Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri has won the Democratic primary in her campaign for a third term.

Voters picked McCaskill on Tuesday as expected over six other Democratic challengers.

Republicans are eyeing the Democratic seat in a state that President Donald Trump won by nearly 19 points in 2016. Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley was favored in an 11-candidate Republican primary for the right to face McCaskill in November.

A McCaskill-Hawley matchup is expected to be one of the most hotly contested races in the nation. McCaskill is running as a moderate in the red state. Hawley is campaigning largely on support for Trump and is attempting to paint his rival as a liberal obstructionist.

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