Republican precinct leaders on Saturday picked Seaman School Board member Kyle McNorton to serve out the term of outgoing Republican state Rep. Fred Patton of Topeka.
McNorton defeated Republican Party Vice Chair Cheryl Reynolds and David Hutchings, former associate director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.
McNorton won on the first ballot with 16 votes followed by Hutchings with nine and Reynolds with six.
The former University of Kansas football star was elected to replace Patton representing House District 50 through the end of the current term, which concludes after next year.
McNorton will have to run again next year for a full two-year term if he wants to keep the position.
A graduate of Seaman High School, McNorton played linebacker at KU from 1978 to 1981 and at the time was the all-time leading tackler in school history with 381 tackles.
He was named the Jayhawks’ most valuable player and was a unanimous first-team All Big 8 selection and earned All-America honors his senior season.
In his senior year, KU played in the 1981 Hall of Fame Classic, the school’s first bowl bid since 1975.
After retiring last year from Capital City Oil after serving as sales manager and general manager for nearly 30 years, McNorton said he had time to devote to public service.
“I’m not on an ego trip or any agenda I want to push through,” McNorton said in a recent interview.
“I just want to make sure that the people of northern Shawnee County are represented well,” he said.
McNorton said in an earlier interview that he contemplated running for the Senate District 18 seat now held by Republican Sen. Kristen O’Shea.
But O’Shea filed first in 2020, and he decided not to run.
“I’ve always sort of watched politics, I guess, from the outside,” McNorton said.
In his letter to precinct committee members, McNorton talked about his work with the community at Capital City Oil.
“Our customers included a wide variety of business owners in northeast Kansas ranging from individuals who were self-employed, to large corporations, such as Evergy and Goodyear,” he wrote.
“My success in this position was due to the fact that I became their trusted adviser, rather than just another salesperson,” he wrote.
“I have always led through my actions and I believe in treating everyone equally and with respect,” he wrote.
“I have always endeavored to share my personal achievements and awards equally with my colleagues and teammates.”
Last year, McNorton voted to remove three books books from the Seaman library shelves, but only one – “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl,” by Jesse Andrews – was pulled after a 4-2, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
The school board deadlocked on two others books – “The Lovely Bones,” by Alice Sebold, and “Perfect,” by Ellen Hopkins – and they remained in the system.
The Topeka newspaper reported that McNorton warned that the board’s actions could lead to other books like the Bible also being challenged.
Reynolds had described herself as a “grass roots” Republican who supports limited government and individual rights.
She had promised to be a consistent conservative vote for the district.
She has served as the 2nd District chair of the Kansas Republican Party and as a member of the Kansas Behavioral Sciences Regulatory Board.
She also was a board member of the Christian Home Educators Confederation of Kansas.
When she ran on a slate with Republican Party Chair Mike Brown for a position in GOP leadership, she was described in campaign material as “MAGA when MAGA wasn’t cool.”
Hutchings, who was the associate director of the KBI from 2011 to 2023, told precinct committee members that parents should have the right to choose where their children attend school.
He said in his letter that he supported gun rights and favored direct election of judges. He also opposed abortion with one exception – when the life a mother is at risk.
Hutchings started at the KBI in 1990. In 2011, he became an associate director at the agency. He previously was a police officer for the Riley County Police Department.
He has a bachelor’s in geophysics and geology from Kansas State
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly carried this district with about 49% of the vote last year when she was reelected compared to about 48% for Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
Independent conservative state Sen. Dennis Pyle won about 2% of the vote here.
The Value Them Both abortion amendment lost in this district with just about 43% of the vote.
About 49% of House District 50 is made up of Republican voters, and about 23% of the voters are Democrats. About 28% of the district voters are unaffiliated.
