Kansas Republican Party - Party Structure

Party Structure

The party structure includes the following elements:

• Precincts: Kansas is divided into thousands of administrative voting districts called precincts. Precincts are not based on population and range from 0 registered voters to 2,500 voters. During the biannual primary election in August, the republican voters in each precinct may elect one precinct committeeman and one precinct committeewoman (a/k/a "precinct leaders"). Vacancies in precinct positions may be filled by the county party chair.
• County Party: Every two years, between the primary election and 2 weeks after the general election, all the precinct committee people - the county party "central Committee" - hold a meeting and elect officers for the county party, a chair, vice chair, secretary and treasurer. Each of the 105 counties in Kansas has an active county party.
• County Delegates: At the biannual meeting of the precinct committeemen, county delegates are elected. Each county has two automatic delegates, its chair and vice chair. Additional delegates are awarded based on the total number of republican votes from the county in the last primary election. While most counties have only 2 delegates, large counties like Sedgwick and Johnson have dozens of county delegates.
• District Committee: The county delegates will assemble in a meeting, usually in December of an election year, and elect four officers (chair, vice-chair, secretary, and treasurer) and 37 delegates to the state committee.
• State Committee: The state committee is made up of 37 delegates from each congressional district, the chair and vice-chair of each district, the state party officers, key elected officials and leaders of republican affiliated groups. The State Committee meets at least twice a year. Every two years the newly elected delegates elect new state party officers - a chair, vice-chair, secretary, and treasurer. During the first meeting of a Presidential election year, the state committee elects a National Committeeman and Committeewoman, who take office at the national republican convention. The state committee approves resolutions, changes to the state party constitution and by-laws, and approves the party platform every two years.
• Executive Committee: The Executive committee is made up of the party officers, elected officials, leaders of republican affiliated groups, and some specially appointed and elected individuals. The Executive Committee meets at State Committee meetings and by phone several times during the year. Budgetary and other administrative duties are tasked to the executive committee.
• State Party Officers: There are six party officers. The Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer, are elected every two years. The National Committeeman and Women are elected every four years. The Chair may hire an executive director and other paid staff with the approval of the Executive Committee.