Good morning:
We start the day with just a handful of counties left to finish counting about 9,000 provisional ballots statewide.
As of Friday morning, Secretary of State Kris Kobach was holding a 349-vote lead over Gov. Jeff Colyer: 128,723 to 128,374. But, of course, that race is settled.
And Hutchinson businessman Paul Waggoner claimed a nine-vote victory over state Rep. Steve Becker in the 104th District after Reno County tallied its provisional ballots on Thursday.
Now onto other news from Thursday that you may have missed but need to know for Friday.
Governor’s race leftovers
The Wichita Eagle reports that lawmakers are interested in reviewing the state’s election laws, especially after reported disparities in how ballots cast by unaffiliated voters were counted. 
The Eagle takes a look at how the state performed — not well — on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Election Performance Index in 2016. The index found that Kansas ranked 48th out of 50 states and Washington, D.C.
The KC Star takes the long view at what led Gov. Jeff Colyer to concede as the provisional ballots started to pile up against him. Bottom line: The votes weren’t there, and a recount was going to lead to a lengthy dispute that would put the Republicans at a disadvantage with the general election fast approaching.
Some other assorted coverage from Thursday night’s joint appearance by Colyer and Secretary of State Kris Kobach at Republican Party headquarters in Topeka. These stories from the Capital-Journal, the Eagle, WIBW and KWCH.
Independent candidate Greg Orman, meanwhile, unveiled his economic development plan, some of which he discussed during a candidate forum sponsored by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce back in June. 
Among other things, Orman’s development plan calls for creating “local regulatory compacts,” where the state would target economic development dollars to regions of the state that streamline local regulations such as permitting requirements.
In addition, he wants to spend $320 million on transportation over the next four years. He also proposes using revenue from income taxes generated from increased farm income to help pay off the debts incurred from investing in agricultural processing capacity.
Congressional race news
The battle between Democrat Sharice Davids and Republican Congressman Kevin Yoder in the 3rd Congressional District is now fully engaged. The Congressional Leadership Fund super political action committee has launched a new ad against the challenger. For what it’s worth, the Congressional Leadership Fund super PAC has already booked $1.7 million in ads in the 3rd District race.
Davids’ campaign released this statement in response to the ad:
“Kevin Yoder is in the pocket of special interests, so it’s not surprising that an out-of-state super PAC is launching dishonest attacks to keep him in Washington,” it said.
“Kevin Yoder can’t hide from his record of voting with President Trump 92 percent of the time, or taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from insurance companies and voting to raise health care costs on Kansans.”
Newspaper flip flops
The Topeka newspaper is making national news this week. After endorsing President Donald Trump in 2016, the Capital-Journal joined hundreds of other newspapers across the country, publishing an editorial standing up against the president’s anti-media rhetoric. CNN highlights the paper’s apparent change of heart.
