Lance Neelly

Lance Neelly

Republican Party

Kansas House of Representatives District 42

Tenure

2021 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

4

Predecessor

Jim Karleskint

Compensation

Base salary

$86.66/session day

Per diem

$166/day

Elections and appointments

Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

High school

Burrton High School

Personal

Birthplace

Hutchinson, Kan.

Religion

Christian

Profession

Correctional Officer

Contact

Official website

Campaign Facebook

Personal Facebook

Personal Twitter

Personal Instagram

Lance Neelly (Republican Party) is a member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing District 42. He assumed office on January 11, 2021. His current term ends on January 11, 2027.

Neelly (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Kansas House of Representatives to represent District 42. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Neelly completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Lance Neelly was born in Hutchinson, Kansas, and lives in Tonganoxie, Kansas. He graduated from Burrton High School. He attended Hutchinson Community College. Neelly's career experience includes working as a correctional officer for a maximum security prison and a security supervisor.

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at:editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Neelly was assigned to the following committees:

• Financial Institutions and Pensions Committee
• House Judiciary Committee
• House Transportation Committee, Vice Chair

2021-2022

Neelly was assigned to the following committees:

• House Transportation Committee
• Veterans and Military Committee
• Financial Institutions and Rural Development Committee
• House Judiciary Committee

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2024

See also: Kansas House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Kansas House of Representatives District 42

Incumbent Lance Neelly defeated Eddy Martinez in the general election for Kansas House of Representatives District 42 on November 5, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lance Neelly (R)	66.4	7,866
	Submit photo	Eddy Martinez (D)	33.6	3,980

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 11,846
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 42

Eddy Martinez advanced from the Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 42 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Eddy Martinez	100.0	670

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 670
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 42

Incumbent Lance Neelly defeated Mike Stieben in the Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 42 on August 6, 2024.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lance Neelly	50.8	1,237
	Submit photo	Mike Stieben	49.2	1,200

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,437
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Neelly in this election.

2022

See also: Kansas House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Kansas House of Representatives District 42

Incumbent Lance Neelly won election in the general election for Kansas House of Representatives District 42 on November 8, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lance Neelly (R)	100.0	6,705

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,705
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 42

Incumbent Lance Neelly advanced from the Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 42 on August 2, 2022.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lance Neelly	100.0	3,666

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,666
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2020

See also: Kansas House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Kansas House of Representatives District 42

Lance Neelly won election in the general election for Kansas House of Representatives District 42 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lance Neelly (R)	97.2	9,652
		Other/Write-in votes	2.8	283

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 9,935
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 42

Lance Neelly defeated incumbent Jim Karleskint in the Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 42 on August 4, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Lance Neelly	51.8	1,764
		Jim Karleskint	48.2	1,642

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,406
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: Kansas House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Kansas House of Representatives District 42

Incumbent Jim Karleskint defeated Thea Perry in the general election for Kansas House of Representatives District 42 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jim Karleskint (R)	63.0	5,513
		Thea Perry (D)	37.0	3,241

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 8,754
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 42

Thea Perry advanced from the Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 42 on August 7, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Thea Perry	100.0	1,014

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 1,014
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 42

Incumbent Jim Karleskint defeated Lance Neelly in the Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 42 on August 7, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jim Karleskint	53.3	1,364
		Lance Neelly	46.7	1,197

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 2,561
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Lance Neelly completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2024. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Neelly's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Husband, Father, Papa. Family being the most important thing to me. I ran because I continuously watched tax increase after tax increase. I wanted to see my kids and my grandkids stay in Kansas and be able to get a home and have a family. And for fun love to go fishing and shooting and be outdoors. Since I have been in Topeka I have been on Judiciary, Financial Institutions and Pensions, and am now the Vice Chair of Transportation. I am also very active in the Veterans Committee. Since a good part of my district is Agriculture I have been active in implementing multiple bills associated with Agriculture and Agritourism. As my Profession has been Corrections and Security and because I have many Family and friends as First Responders I am very Passionate about representing them. I have been rated as one of the most Conservative Legislators in the House.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• You may not like what I tell you but, I Will tell you the Truth. I have been expected to lie for others and will Not do so. If that means I will no longer continue as a Legislator, so be it.
• I Hate Campaigning. It is what will make me stop doing this. People often misrepresent the Facts(Lie) during campaigns and can be rude and mean about things. I work hard at campaigning because all the other things that go with being a Legislator I Very much enjoy. I love helping people, solving problems and working to see things accomplished.
• Working with others, I think this is one of my best attributes. We all may have differences of opinions on issues but lets find issues we can work together on and get things done.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Law, Law Enforcement, First Responders, Detering Crime, Transportation, Agriculture, Agritourism, and obviously fighting against Tax Increases.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

My Dad, he always had a Great sense of humor and was well liked wherever he went. There are others that I look up to even now.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Not that I can think specifically. I'm pretty Country so it would probably be a Western.

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Honestly and Truthfulness, don't tell people what they want to hear, tell them the truth. Being deceptive and Sneaky is a pet Peeve of mine. Vote like you said you would, we have all seen politicians ay they will vote one way then get elected and vote another.

Work hard for Constituents and be available to them.

That means being a part of the Community. Be there when they need you.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Ability to work with others. I think i get along with almost everyone I deal with in the Capitol. And I am not afraid to talk to Anyone.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Represent your Constituents. You will never please everyone all the time. But if you find a politician that you agree with 100% of the time...they are Lying to You.

What legacy would you like to leave?

He was loved by his Family and Friends. That he cared for others.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

I don't remember

What was your very first job? How long did you have it?

Mowing ball diamonds, a couple years in the summer

What is your favorite book? Why?

The Forth Horseman by Randy Lee Eickhoff
tis the story of Doc Holiday

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Captain America

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

Sesame Street song my brother sent, "Menomanomp bee bee badeepee"

What is something that has been a struggle in your life?

Holding my Tongue

What do you believe is the ideal relationship between the governor and state legislature?

I dont know....Never had one

What do you perceive to be your state's greatest challenges over the next decade?

Property Tax, and Water.....West half of our State is in trouble and we need solutions.

Do you believe that it’s beneficial for state legislators to have previous experience in government or politics?

Not necessarily, most in my position do not have any experience. Most just feel the need to try to fix some of the issues we face.

Do you believe it’s beneficial to build relationships with other legislators? Please explain your answer.

Absolutely! There are 124 other House Members and 40 Senators and a Governor....You cant do it on your own.

Is there a particular legislator, past or present, whom you want to model yourself after?

No...I am myself, no one else

Are you interested in running for a different political office (for example, the U.S. Congress or governor) in the future?

No...not at all

Both sitting legislators and candidates for office hear many personal stories from the residents of their district. Is there a story that you’ve heard that you found particularly touching, memorable, or impactful?

Many, I have met with and taken phone calls from constituents that have cried from both sadness and desperation. It is people such as those that make one work harder.

Tell us your favorite joke.

no

Should the legislature oversee or grant the use of emergency powers?

I think so because you have more people making the decision. Not just One.

What is the first bill you would introduce if elected?

Right now it would be Tax Relief...People need Help.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

Farm Bureau, Kansans For Life, Family Voice, Kansas Livestock Association, Americans For Prosperity. Many others

What committees interest you?

Judiciary, Transportation, Financial Institutions and Pensions, Veterans, Agriculture, Corrections, and always trying to pay attention to others, especially Tax.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

I think there needs to be a Lot more. I think its pretty Transparent that the Government is Accountable for Many things that need fixed. Often the Government Complicates or Compounds issues.

Would a state ballot initiative process be good or bad for your state?

For certain things

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

2022

Lance Neelly did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Lance Neelly did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

Campaign finance summary

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Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

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Lance Neelly campaign contribution history

Year	Office	Status	Contributions	Expenditures
2024*	Kansas House of Representatives District 42	Won general	$18,195	$0
2022	Kansas House of Representatives District 42	Won general	$15,096	$0
2020	Kansas House of Representatives District 42	Won general	$12,318	N/A**
2018	Kansas House of Representatives District 42	Lost primary	$6,360	N/A**
Grand total			$51,969	N/A**
Sources: OpenSecrets,  Federal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
* Data from this year may not be complete
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Kansas

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Kansas scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

2024

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show].

In 2024, the Kansas State Legislature was in session from January 8 to April 30. Americans for Prosperity-Kansas Legislators are scored on their stances on conservative fiscal policy. Kansas Family Voice Legislators are scored on their votes on a variety of issues of interest to the organization. Kansas Policy Institute Legislators are scored on their support for bills that the organization lists as promoting "individual liberty, limited government, free markets and student-focused education." National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. Wichita Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

2023

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show].

In 2023, the Kansas State Legislature was in session from January 9 to April 28. Kansas Family Voice Legislators are scored on their votes on a variety of issues of interest to the organization. Kansas Policy Institute Legislators are scored on their support for bills that the organization lists as promoting "individual liberty, limited government, free markets and student-focused education." Wichita Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

2022

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show].

In 2022, the Kansas State Legislature was in session from January 10 to May 23. Kansas Family Voice Legislators are scored on their votes on a variety of issues of interest to the organization. Kansas Policy Institute Legislators are scored on their support for bills that the organization lists as promoting "individual liberty, limited government, free markets and student-focused education." MainStream Coalition Legislators are scored by the MainStream Coalition on whether they voted with the moderate position on selected bills. National Federation of Independent Business Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues. Wichita Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

2021

To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show].

In 2021, the Kansas State Legislature was in session from January 11 to May 26. Americans for Prosperity-Kansas Legislators are scored on their stances on conservative fiscal policy. Kansas Policy Institute Legislators are scored on their support for bills that the organization lists as promoting "individual liberty, limited government, free markets and student-focused education." MainStream Coalition Legislators are scored by the MainStream Coalition on whether they voted with the moderate position on selected bills. The American Conservative Union Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues. Wichita Chamber of Commerce Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

See also

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External links

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Candidate

Kansas House of Representatives District 42

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Kansas House of Representatives District 42

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Jim Karleskint (R)	Kansas House of Representatives District 42 2021-Present	Succeeded by -

[show]

Current members of the Kansas House of Representatives

Leadership

Speaker of the House:Daniel Hawkins

Majority Leader:Chris Croft

Minority Leader:Brandon Woodard

Representatives

District 1

Dale Helwig (R)

District 2

Kenneth Collins (R)

District 3

Chuck Smith (R)

District 4

Rick James (R)

District 5

Carrie Barth (R)

District 6

Samantha Poetter (R)

District 7

Dan Goddard (R)

District 8

Chris Croft (R)

District 9

Fred Gardner (R)

District 10

Suzanne Wikle (D)

District 11

Ron Bryce (R)

District 12

Doug Blex (R)

District 13

Duane Droge (R)

District 14

Charlotte Esau (R)

District 15

Lauren Bohi (R)

District 16

Linda Featherston (D)

District 17

Jo Ella Hoye (D)

District 18

Cindy Neighbor (D)

District 19

Stephanie Clayton (D)

District 20

Mari-Lynn Poskin (D)

District 21

Jerry Stogsdill (D)

District 22

Lindsay Vaughn (D)

District 23

Susan Ruiz (D)

District 24

Jarrod Ousley (D)

District 25

Rui Xu (D)

District 26

Chip VanHouden (R)

District 27

Sean Tarwater (R)

District 28

Carl Turner (R)

District 29

Heather Meyer (D)

District 30

Laura Williams (R)

District 31

Louis Ruiz (D)

District 32

Pam Curtis (D)

District 33

Mike Thompson (R)

District 34

Valdenia Winn (D)

District 35

Wanda Paige (D)

District 36

Lynn Melton (D)

District 37

Melissa Oropeza (D)

District 38

Timothy Johnson (R)

District 39

Angela Stiens (R)

District 40

David Buehler (R)

District 41

Pat Proctor (R)

District 42

Lance Neelly (R)

District 43

Bill Sutton (R)

District 44

Barbara Ballard (D)

District 45

Mike Amyx (D)

District 46

Brooklynne Mosley (D)

District 47

Ronald Ellis (R)

District 48

Dan Osman (D)

District 49

Nikki McDonald (D)

District 50

Kyle McNorton (R)

District 51

Megan Steele (R)

District 52

Jesse Borjon (R)

District 53

Kirk Haskins (D)

District 54

Ken Corbet (R)

District 55

Tobias Schlingensiepen (D)

District 56

Virgil Weigel (D)

District 57

John Alcala (D)

District 58

Alexis Simmons (D)

District 59

Rebecca Schmoe (R)

District 60

Mark Schreiber (R)

District 61

Francis Awerkamp (R)

District 62

Sean Willcott (R)

District 63

Allen Reavis (R)

District 64

Lewis Bloom (R)

District 65

Shawn Chauncey (R)

District 66

Sydney Carlin (D)

District 67

Angel Roeser (R)

District 68

Nathan Butler (R)

District 69

Clarke Sanders (R)

District 70

Scott Hill (R)

District 71

Steven Howe (R)

District 72

Avery Anderson (R)

District 73

Rick Wilborn (R)

District 74

Mike King (R)

District 75

Will Carpenter (R)

District 76

Brad Barrett (R)

District 77

Kristey Williams (R)

District 78

Robyn Essex (R)

District 79

Webster Roth (R)

District 80

Bill Rhiley (R)

District 81

Blake Carpenter (R)

District 82

Leah Howell (R)

District 83

Henry Helgerson (D)

District 84

Ford Carr (D)

District 85

Patrick Penn (R)

District 86

Silas Miller (D)

District 87

Susan Estes (R)

District 88

Sandy Pickert (R)

District 89

KC Ohaebosim (D)

District 90

Steve Huebert (R)

District 91

Emil Bergquist (R)

District 92

John Carmichael (D)

District 93

Brian Bergkamp (R)

District 94

Leo Delperdang (R)

District 95

Tom Sawyer (D)

District 96

Tom Kessler (R)

District 97

Nick Hoheisel (R)

District 98

Cyndi Howerton (R)

District 99

Susan Humphries (R)

District 100

Daniel Hawkins (R)

District 101

Joe Seiwert (R)

District 102

Kyler Sweely (R)

District 103

Angela Martinez (D)

District 104

Paul Waggoner (R)

District 105

Jill Ward (R)

District 106

Lisa Moser (R)

District 107

Dawn Wolf (R)

District 108

Brandon Woodard (D)

District 109

Troy Waymaster (R)

District 110

Ken Rahjes (R)

District 111

Barbara Wasinger (R)

District 112

Sherri Brantley (R)

District 113

Brett Fairchild (R)

District 114

Kevin Schwertfeger (R)

District 115

Gary White (R)

District 116

Kyle Hoffman (R)

District 117

Adam Turk (R)

District 118

Jim Minnix (R)

District 119

Jason Goetz (R)

District 120

Adam Smith (R)

District 121

John Resman (R)

District 122

Lon Pishny (R)

District 123

Bob Lewis (R)

District 124

Martin Long (R)

District 125

Shannon Francis (R)

Republican Party (88)

Democratic Party (37)