With 64% of the vote, Jim McMullen defeated Steve Roberts in the Republican primary for the District 3 seat on the Kansas State Board of Education, covering southern Johnson County and northern Miami County.
He will now face Democrat Amy Diediker of Olathe in the November general election. Diediker had no primary opponent.
McMullen is a lawyer and investment banker. He owns Royal Blue Capital, a merchant banking firm based in Overland Park, and is the CEO of AA Wheel & Truck Supply. He taught middle and high school English early in his career and served on the Blue Valley school board from 2021 to 2025, when he lost reelection.
McMullen believes schools should more narrowly focus on scholastic achievement in traditional subjects, as well as promoting civic responsibility and critical thinking. He favors limiting technology in the classroom but teaching students to use AI tools wisely.
With half of the 10-member board up for election this year, voters also weighed in on Republican primaries in District 5, a sprawling district covering much of northern and western Kansas, and District 9 — covering southeast Kansas.
In District 5, Jean Clifford narrowly defeated Kelly Ancar with 51% of the vote. She will face Democrat Lorie Wood in the general election.
In District 9, Destry Brown defeated Kristian Gerken and Renee Slinkard with 43% of the vote in a three-way primary. She will face Democrat Heather Guernsey in the general election.
Democrats in all five districts and Republicans in District 1 and District 7 ran unopposed for the primary.
None of the candidates is an incumbent because the incumbents — all five of them Republicans — declined to run for reelection.
All election results are unofficial until they are certified.
This story was originally published by The Beacon, a fellow member of the KC Media Collective.
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