Dem Gov. Laura Kelly fends off GOP challenger, re-elected as Kansas governor

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Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly offers ‘no apologies’ for closing schools amid COVID-19 pandemic

Kansas Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly, who is seeking re-election this November, said she makes "absolutely no apologies" for being the first governor to close schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Fox News Decision Desk can project that Kansas Governor Laura Kelly, the Democrat, will defeat her GOP challenger, Derek Schmidt.

The race between the two candidates, both of whom held elected positions in the state for more than 10 years, pitted Kelly, who has tried to portray herself as a moderate, against Schmidt, who placed a great deal of his campaign's focus on the economy and Kelly's coronavirus recovery efforts.

Kelly and Schmidt participated in an October 5 debate hosted by the Johnson County Bar Association in Overland Park, the state's second most populous city.

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The two candidates showcased their partisan differences as they clashed over education, abortion, the coronavirus pandemic and other issues.

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Incumbent Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly and Attorney General Derek Schmidt faced off in the Kansas gubernatorial election on Tuesday, November 8, 2022. (Mark Reinstein/Corbis, Eric Lee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Kelly was the only Democratic governor running for re-election in a state carried in 2020 by former President Donald Trump. The former four-term state senator from Topeka, who was elected governor in 2018, said she deserved another four years steering Kansas after working with the Republican-dominated legislature to balance the red state’s budget and increasing the state’s rainy-day fund to $1 billion.

She also spotlighted the agreement to fully fund public education after years of legal differences, touted that she signed into law a bill to eliminate the state’s sales tax on groceries and showcased Kansas’s low unemployment and her efforts to create and retain jobs.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and Attorney General Derek Schmidt square off in a final gubernatorial debate before November's election, on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, at the Doubletree Hotel in Overland Park, Kansas. (Emily Curiel/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Schmidt, who served alongside Kelly in the state Senate before winning three elections as Kansas attorney general, touted his conservative credentials and stressed that he would fight for individual freedoms and the Constitution. He heavily criticized Kelly’s actions and orders during the COVID-19 crisis, including the closing of schools and some businesses amid the worst pandemic to strike the globe in a century. Additionally, he targeted the governor for state spending made possible by the surge in federal aid amid the coronavirus pandemic over the past two and a half years.

KANSAS GOV. LAURA KELLY MAKES ‘ABSOLUTELY NO APOLOGIES’ FOR CLOSING SCHOOLS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC

At the first debate, Schmidt said that he respected the August 2 vote by Kansans to overwhelmingly reject a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would have allowed the legislature to greatly restrict or ban abortion. Kelly rejected Schmidt’s argument that the governor favors abortion with no restrictions up until birth.

The Kansas state capitol on April 23, 2020 in Topeka, Kansas. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Schmidt, who was part of an unsuccessful effort to overturn then-President Trump's 2020 presidential election loss, was endorsed by Trump at the beginning of the year.

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Other candidates in the race included Libertarian nominee Seth Cordell and state Sen. Dennis Pyle, a conservative lawmaker who made a run for governor as an independent.

Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.