Robyn Essex
Robyn Essex (Republican Party) is a member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing District 78. She assumed office on January 9, 2023. Her current term ends on January 11, 2027.
Essex (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Kansas House of Representatives to represent District 78. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
Robyn Essex graduated from Apple Valley High School. Essex earned a B.A. in business administration and psychology from MidAmerica Nazarene University in 1990. Her career experience includes working as a real estate agent, a district representative for U.S. Senator Jerry Moran, and a kindergarten aide with the Olathe School District. Essex has served as the president of the Sunflower Club, as a Kansas Republican Party Precinct Committeewoman, and on the city council of Olathe, Kansas.[1]
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.
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
Essex was assigned to the following committees:
- Insurance Committee
- House Local Government Committee
- House Transportation Committee
- Water Committee
- Elections Committee
Elections
2024
See also: Kansas House of Representatives elections, 2024
General election
General election for Kansas House of Representatives District 78
Incumbent Robyn Essex defeated Daniel Goodman in the general election for Kansas House of Representatives District 78 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Robyn Essex (R) | 54.4 | 6,880 | |
| Daniel Goodman (D) | 45.6 | 5,767 | ||
| Total votes: 12,647 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 78
Daniel Goodman advanced from the Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 78 on August 6, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Daniel Goodman | 100.0 | 1,007 | |
| Total votes: 1,007 | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 78
Incumbent Robyn Essex advanced from the Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 78 on August 6, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Robyn Essex | 100.0 | 1,596 | |
| Total votes: 1,596 | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Essex in this election.
2022
See also: Kansas House of Representatives elections, 2022
General election
General election for Kansas House of Representatives District 78
Robyn Essex defeated W. Michael Shimeall in the general election for Kansas House of Representatives District 78 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Robyn Essex (R) | 53.5 | 5,030 | |
| W. Michael Shimeall (D) | 46.5 | 4,371 | ||
| Total votes: 9,401 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 78
W. Michael Shimeall advanced from the Democratic primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 78 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | W. Michael Shimeall | 100.0 | 2,920 | |
| Total votes: 2,920 | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 78
Robyn Essex defeated Brian Herr in the Republican primary for Kansas House of Representatives District 78 on August 2, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Robyn Essex | 54.9 | 2,398 | |
| Brian Herr | 45.1 | 1,968 | ||
| Total votes: 4,366 | ||||
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2015
Four seats were up for election on April 7, 2015. A primary election for the at-large Position 7 seat was held March 3, 2015.
Position 1 incumbent LeEtta Felter defeated challenger Jim Poe in her re-election bid, while Position 2 incumbent Richard Schier retained his seat without facing opposition. Shannon Wickliffe won the Position 4 seat as she was the only candidate to file for the open seat.[2]
Four candidates filed for the open at-large Position 7 seat: Joe Beveridge, Scott Enge, Robyn Essex, and Elizabeth Howerton.[2] Because more than three candidates filed for the position, a primary election was held. Essex and Beveridge advanced to the general election, where Beveridge won the seat.
Results
General
| Olathe Public Schools USD 233, At-Large Position 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Joe Beveridge |
52% | 3,777 | |
| Nonpartisan | Robyn Essex | 48% | 3,487 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.1% | 5 | |
| Total Votes | 7,269 | |||
| Source: Johnson County Election Office, "Election Summary Report 2015 Spring General," April 13, 2015 | ||||
Primary
| Olathe Public Schools USD 233, At-Large Position 7 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Robyn Essex |
43.3% | 1,413 | |
| Nonpartisan | Joe Beveridge |
35.2% | 1,147 | |
| Nonpartisan | Scott Enge | 11.8% | 386 | |
| Nonpartisan | Elizabeth Howerton | 9.7% | 317 | |
| Total Votes | 3,263 | |||
| Source: Johnson County Election Office, “Election Summary Report 2015 Spring Primary: Official Final Results,” accessed March 3, 2015 | ||||
Funding
Essex reported $9,965.43 in contributions and $9,965.43 in expenditures to the Johnson County Election Office, which left her campaign with no cash on hand in this election.[3]
Endorsements
Essex did not receive any official endorsements in this election.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Robyn Essex did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Robyn Essex completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Essex's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
- People are hurting. With today's rising inflation and a recession looming, Kansans are looking for some relief. Home values are sharply rising, along with property taxes. We need to examine our tax policy while looking for ways to reduce spending and decrease the size of government. Above all, we need to be good stewards of taxpayer dollars while ensuring that core functions of government are funded appropriately.
- Kansas should be a place that supports entrepreneurship and small business. We need to explore policy options that will bring about our desired outcome to improve our standard of living, create jobs, and support innovation.
- I will protect and promote life, liberty, and our constitutional rights.
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.
2015
Essex provided the following statements on her campaign website:
| “ | Priorities: A Focus on Children
We must always remember that our focus remains on establishing the best possible education for our children. To do so requires we focus on the right priorities in order to ensure that happens. If elected, I will:
|
” |
| —Robyn Essex's campaign website (2015)[5] | ||
| “ | Why am I running?
I am offering to serve on the school board because I am grateful that our community has such an excellent school district, and I want to ensure it's continued success in the tradition of excellence we have come to expect from our Olathe Public Schools. Why am I qualified to serve in this capacity? Long-term success for our district requires a foundation of trust between the school board and our community's stakeholders. I am an excellent communicator and I will use those skills to continue to build trust between the school board and our community. As the mother of three children who attend Olathe Schools, I have first-hand, current, experience that will be helpful in the critical decisions that board members make as they chart the course together for our district. I am the wife of a teacher and coach (who works in another district here in Johnson County) and I know what teachers are dealing with on a daily basis. I am a former employee of the district. I have experienced what it is like to work in the Olathe School District and can understand and communicate the impact those decisions have on our employees. I have been a teacher at a private school, and a trainer/educator in a corporate setting. You could say that education has been a constant theme in my life. I value K-12 public education and believe that it is the backbone of our society and the springboard into a brighter future for our children. I am an active member of the Olathe community, having lived here for almost 30 years. I have been a youth mentor for over 20 years, and invest my time and effort each week into the youth in our community. I see what they are struggling with, what they are excited about, and what their hopes and dreams are. I hear from their families about the issues they are facing today. I support and value our Olathe School District and believe it is an asset to our community worth investing in. I am offering to give back to the district that has given so much to me, my family, and my community. My message is simple... |
” |
| —Robyn Essex's campaign website (2015)[6] | ||
Campaign finance summary
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.
Scorecards
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]. |
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In 2024, the Kansas State Legislature was in session from January 8 to April 30.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Kansas State Legislature was in session from January 9 to April 28.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Kansas House of Representatives District 78 |
Officeholder Kansas House of Representatives District 78 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Robyn Essex," accessed May 10, 2023
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Johnson County Election Office, "Candidates - Spring 2015 Unofficial Listing," accessed January 28, 2015
- ↑ Johnson County Elections Office, "Campaign & Committee Reports," accessed June 1, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Robyn Essex for Olathe School Board, "Priorities," accessed February 11, 2015
- ↑ Robyn Essex for Olathe School Board, "Welcome," accessed February 11, 2015
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ron Ryckman (R) |
Kansas House of Representatives District 78 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
