Pat Proctor, a Republican state representative from Leavenworth, is running for Kansas secretary of state in the Nov. 3, 2026, general election. The secretary of state oversees elections in all 105 Kansas counties, including Johnson County. Proctor currently represents District 41 in the Kansas House and chairs the House Elections Committee.
Proctor said in a candidate questionnaire that his 25 years of Army service, including tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, motivate his run. "I swore an oath when I first put on the uniform to support and defend our Constitution, to protect our form of government and our way of life," he said. "That oath didn't end when I took off the uniform."
Candidate information
- Party: Republican
- Office sought: Kansas Secretary of State
- Current office: State Representative, District 41, Kansas House of Representatives (since 2021); Chairman, House Elections Committee
- Residence: Leavenworth, Kansas
- Family: Wife, Aree; two children, Amy and Jonathan; two grandchildren
- Education: Ph.D. in History, Kansas State University; B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University; master's degrees from the U.S. Army War College, the School of Advanced Military Studies and the Command and General Staff College
- Occupation: Assistant professor in the Homeland Security program at Wichita State University; co-owner of two restaurants in Leavenworth and one in Manhattan; owner of ProSIM Company
- Endorsements: NFIB in Kansas; Kansas Chamber of Commerce
Experience and public service
Proctor served 25 years in the U.S. Army, retiring as a colonel. His service included two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. He also serves as chairman of the Joint Committee on Kansas Security and sits on the Board of Advisors to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, according to his questionnaire responses.
On the issues
Election security
Proctor said in his questionnaire that Kansas elections are secure but that security alone is not enough. "It doesn't matter how secure our elections are if people don't believe they are secure," he wrote. He said he has used his role as Elections Committee chairman to hear residents' concerns, educate voters on existing safeguards and close gaps where vulnerabilities exist.
He told the Hays Post his priorities include increasing transparency, addressing concerns about noncitizen voting and ballot collection, and maintaining voter registration rolls.
Noncitizen voting
Proctor said he carried and passed the SAVE Kansas Act, which requires the secretary of state to use a federal database maintained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to identify and remove noncitizens from voter rolls. He said the first use of that tool found more than 20 people who had apparently been voting as noncitizens, including the former mayor of Coldwater. The law includes due process protections, he said.
He also sponsored a constitutional amendment on the November 2026 ballot that would change the Kansas Constitution's wording from "every" citizen can vote to "only" citizens can vote, according to KCUR.
Mail ballot deadline
Proctor said he carried and passed the repeal of the three-day grace period for mail ballots. Following this, a judge blocked the law July 16, 2026. The Court of Appeals upheld that ruling July 28, and the Kansas Supreme Court declined an emergency appeal July 31. He said that during the 2024 primary, nearly 1,000 ballots received during that window lacked a postmark and could not be counted, citing the office of Secretary of State Scott Schwab. Requiring all ballots to arrive by 7 p.m. on Election Day, as 32 other states do, removes the postmark requirement, he said.
He said he has twice carried legislation to add two days to early and mail-in voting. House Democrats voted it down both times, he said.
Key differences from opponent
Proctor said his opponent, Democrat Jennifer Day, told Douglas County Democrats in October 2025 that she considers it "unfortunate" that noncitizens cannot vote in Kansas. He said he disagrees. He pointed to his legislative record on the SAVE Kansas Act and the citizens-only voting amendment.
Day's response to Proctor's characterization was not available for this profile.
The Nov. 3, 2026, general election includes the secretary of state race on the ballot statewide.
