The Kansas governor, Jeff Colyer, conceded on Tuesday evening in the state's Republican gubernatorial primary, saying he would endorse Kris Kobach, the secretary of state, a week after their neck-and-neck finish threatened to send the race to a recount. Colyer accepted defeat in a surprise announcement after a review of some provisional ballots from most Kansas counties failed to find enough votes for him to overcome a deficit of 110 votes at the time of poll closing in the 7 August primary, out of more than 311,000 votes initially counted. “I’ve just had a conversation with the secretary of state and I congratulated him on his success and I repeated my determination to keep this seat in Republican hands,” Colyer said at a news conference. Kobach will face the Democrat Laura Kelly, and is likely to face the independent candidate Greg Orman, in the November general election in the decidedly conservative state.
Incumbent Governor of Kansas Jeff Colyer concedes defeat to Republican challenger Kris Kobach in the primary election.