By NICK SLOAN, NJSloan212@gmail.com
There are three races in Wyandotte County to keep an eye on today.
Arguably the main event of the evening comes in the 5th District Republican nomination race in the Kansas Senate.
Steve Fitzgerald and former Kansas Sen. Mark Gilstrap will compete for the GOP nomination in order to take on current Kansas Sen. Kelly Kultala. In either matchup, it will be a rematch from 2008.
Kultala defeated Gilstrap in the Democratic Party's primary, when Gilstrap was a Democrat. Later on, she defeated Fitzgerald after a late surge of votes on Election Night in 2008.
The 5th District includes portions of Western Wyandotte County and Leavenworth. Based on the general pattern of Wyandotte County getting results, it could be a late night before this race is over or at least called.
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Meanwhile, former Unified Government Commissioner Pat Pettey looks to move on in her race, as she takes on fellow Democrat Mario Escobar in the 6th District.
The winner of the race will take on current Kansas Sen. Chris Steineger in the general election.
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The third primary election will include a very small part of Wyandotte County, but it still counts.
Lake Quivera Republicans will choose between Mary Pilcher-Cook and Tom Wertz for their party's nomination.
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While election day here is not as busy as other places, these are still important races to vote on.
If you live in these districts and if you're registered to vote, do it. Not to bore you with the "it's the democratic process" lecture, but it's one of the view times a year where the population gets to exhibit power. Take advantage of it.
I will be here until all the races are done.
As we edge closer to the general election, we'll be doing candidate questionnaires in an effort for readers and voters to get an idea of who they should vote for depending on what they believe.
Kansas polls opened up at 7 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m. tonight.
