How to Run for Mayor in Kansas

Where Kansas voters elect their mayor, the mayor is a city office elected at large, which means by the voters of the whole city. To run in 2027, you file a declaration of candidacy with the county election officer by noon on Tuesday, June 1, 2027, together with a $20 filing fee or a petition signed by voters of the city. The number of petition signatures for an at-large office is set by your city's governing body by ordinance. If more than three candidates file for mayor, a primary is held on Tuesday, August 3, 2027, and the top two advance. Otherwise, every candidate goes straight to the general election on Tuesday, November 2, 2027.

Before any of that, find out how your city fills the office, because each city's form of government, class and charter ordinances shape the mayor's office, the term and the qualifications to run. This guide uses the Kansas Statutes (K.S.A.) and the Secretary of State's election standards and forms. The 2027 voter dates are computed from state law, because the Secretary of State has not yet posted its 2027 calendar.

For the full picture of a 2027 Kansas race, see our guide to running for local office in Kansas.

Step 1: Find out how your city fills the mayor's office

According to the Secretary of State's election standards, each Kansas city adopts its form of government by charter ordinance. Mayor-council, modified mayor-council, commission and city manager are among the forms named. The city's class (first, second or third, depending on population) and its election schedule also matter. Start with your city clerk and ask:

• Is the mayor's office on the 2027 ballot? Kansas city elections are held in odd-numbered years, but state law lets cities hold elections in even-numbered years to stagger terms or create three-year terms (K.S.A. 25-21a01(h)), and some cities have set other schedules by charter ordinance.
• Do the voters elect the mayor directly? The answer depends on your city's form of government and charter ordinances. If your city's voters do not elect the mayor, the route to the office runs through the governing body, and our guide on running for city council in Kansas is the place to start.
• How long is the term, and when does it begin? Each city's governing body sets the terms of its elected officials by ordinance or resolution (K.S.A. 25-21a01(c)).
• How many signatures does a mayoral petition need? For an at-large office, the city sets the number by ordinance (K.S.A. 25-2110(b)).
• Are city elections partisan or nonpartisan? City elections are usually nonpartisan, but each city's governing body decides (K.S.A. 25-2113).

Step 2: Check that you qualify

Kansas has no single statewide list of qualifications for mayor. The Secretary of State's election standards explain that most first class cities have used their home rule power to set their own candidate qualifications, and that second and third class cities may change the statutory qualifications by charter ordinance. Ask your city clerk what residency and voter registration requirements apply, and when they must be met.

Then confirm that your voter registration shows your current address in the city. Within three days after you file, the county election officer decides whether your filing is valid, and that review can include your qualifications for the office.

Step 3: Choose the fee or the petition

The $20 fee. State law lets any person who meets the qualifications for a municipal office become a candidate by filing a declaration of intent with a $20 filing fee (K.S.A. 25-21a01(f)). Confirm the amount, and get the declaration form, from your county election officer (K.S.A. 25-2110(a)).

The petition. A petition replaces the fee. For mayor, the number of signatures is whatever your city's ordinance sets, so ask the county election officer or city clerk for the 2027 number. If you choose this route:

• Use Form CP, the Kansas Non-Partisan City/School Nomination Petition, from your county election office or the Secretary of State. Fill in your name, address and "Mayor" as the office before anyone signs. You may photocopy the blank form.
• Signers must be registered voters who live in the city. Each gives a signature, printed name, street address, city and the date. All signers on one page must live in the same county.
• Circulators must be U.S. citizens, at least 18, and not convicted of a felony unless pardoned or with civil rights restored (K.S.A. 25-3608). You may carry your own petition. Each circulator must personally witness every signature and sign a notarized affidavit on the back of the form.
• The 180-day rule. A petition is void unless it is filed within 180 days of its first signature (K.S.A. 25-3602(d)). For a June 1, 2027 filing, collect no signatures before Thursday, December 3, 2026 (based on state law).
• Collect extra and file once. The Secretary of State recommends gathering more signatures than required, because some will not be found valid. All pages are filed together, and a petition that falls short cannot be topped up later.

Step 4: File with the county election officer by noon on June 1

Candidates for a city office elected at large file with the county election officer of the county where the city is located, or of the county that holds most of the city's population if the city spans more than one county (K.S.A. 25-2110(a)). The county election officer is the county clerk, except in counties with more than 125,000 people, which have an appointed election commissioner (K.S.A. 19-3419; K.S.A. 25-2504).

The deadline is noon on Tuesday, June 1, 2027 for all city elections (K.S.A. 25-2109). Ask when the office begins accepting filings, and file early so there is time to fix a problem.

After you file. If your filing is found invalid, you will be told why and may object (K.S.A. 25-2110(d)). Objection deadlines are short, so ask for them and keep copies of everything you file.

Withdrawals. After noon on June 1, a candidate may not withdraw, with two exceptions added by a 2026 change to state law: a severe medical hardship on the candidate or their immediate family, certified by a physician, or no longer living in the district. A certification received by Wednesday, September 1, 2027 keeps the name off the ballot.

Step 5: Learn whether there will be a primary

For an at-large race, a primary is held only if more than three times as many candidates file as there are seats to fill (K.S.A. 25-2108a(c)). With one mayor's seat, that means a primary on August 3 only if four or more candidates file, and the top two advance to November. With three or fewer candidates, there is no primary, and all of them appear on the November 2 ballot.

Primary ballots have no write-in lines, but general election ballots do. In a first class city, a write-in candidate must file an affidavit of write-in candidacy before their votes are counted.

Step 6: Run a citywide campaign

A mayoral race covers the whole city, so it needs more volunteers, more events and more planning than a district race. Build the plan around the voter dates for your election (all based on state law):

• Registration deadline: Tuesday, July 13 for the primary, Tuesday, October 12 for the general election.
• Advance voting begins: Wednesday, July 14 and Wednesday, October 13, when mail ballots go out and counties may open in-person voting.
• In-person advance voting open in every county: from Tuesday, July 27 and Tuesday, October 26, until noon on the day before the election.

Our Kansas 2027 local election calendar lists every date. As an example only, a mayoral campaign might set a goal of 10 regular volunteers, each covering one neighborhood twice before advance voting opens. Set your own numbers from the size of your city and the time you have.

To organize that work, Beacon, a door-to-door canvassing app, lets you draw turf (the area each volunteer covers) on a map, assign it to volunteers, give them walk lists ordered by distance, and record a result at each door, such as contacted, not home or come back later.

Step 7: Text the supporters who asked to hear from you

In a citywide race, texting gives you a steady way to reach supporters at the right moments. Set it up in CampaignCNX+ before advance voting begins.

1. Committee and Campaign Verify. Campaign Verify confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that a political sender is a real campaign. It needs a 527 committee (the federal tax status of a political committee) with an EIN (the committee's federal tax ID number) and a filing with an election authority that is published online. Ask your county election officer whether your committee's filing is posted online, and contact Campaign Verify Support if it is not. It costs $95. A request made on or after Sunday, November 15, 2026 lasts until January 31, 2029, and Campaign Verify decides eligibility.
2. Registration. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration, as 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number) or toll-free, and files your Campaign Verify token with it. For a toll-free number, the carrier review usually takes about three business days.
3. Your supporter group. Add only people who agreed in writing to receive campaign texts, with the date recorded. Never text everyone who signed your petition or everyone on a voter list. Record the consent date and source in a custom field, and use tags to sort supporters by neighborhood.
4. Scheduled reminders. Schedule texts for the registration deadline, the first day of advance voting and election day. Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, and STOP replies are handled automatically. For example:

Hi [First name], it's [Name], running for Mayor of [City]. Advance voting opens Wed, Oct 13. Reply STOP to opt out.

100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month. Pay-as-you-go texting costs $0.06 per SMS segment, and the Basic plan is $55 a month for 1,000 texts. For worked examples of a local race budget, see what it costs to text a local race, and for texting rules across the region, see campaign texting in the Midwest.

Start with your city clerk

Your first call should be to your city clerk, to learn whether the mayor's office is on the 2027 ballot, how it is filled and what your city requires. Then choose between the fee and the petition, and file well before noon on June 1. When you are ready to reach supporters by text, start a CampaignCNX+ trial.