Gov. Kelly was elected in 2018 and sworn in on Jan. 14, 2019. Laura Kelly is now serving a 2nd consecutive term; the current term began Jan. 2023. The scored record above covers Kansas's outcomes during this continuous service, lagged per category (each category's lag was fixed before scoring).
Governors › Kansas
Kansas Under Laura Kelly
Democratic · Sworn in Jan. 14, 2019 · Now in 2nd term
Kansas has tracked the other 49 states almost exactly under Gov. Kelly — No. 9 of 29 governors with rated records, across 16 categories.
Laura Kelly
Kansas · Democratic · since Jan. 2019 · 2nd term
Overall · citizen-weighted
No. 9 of 29
+0.05σ · 16 of 20 categories
equal-weight: −0.00σ · weighting helps
| Category | Latest | Score vs. peers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Honesty | — | In human review | |
| Spending discipline | — | Rubric in development | |
| Education scale score | 274.1 ’24 | +1.10σ* | |
| Air quality AQI | 44 ’24 | −0.73σ | |
| Water quality % of community systems | 7.0 ’25 | +0.89σ | |
| Unemployment % | 3.8 ’25 | −1.36σ | |
| Health coverage % of adults 18-64 | 10.5 ’24 | +0.26σ | |
| Tax burden % of personal income | 6.7 ’24 | −0.35σ | |
| Energy cost cents/kWh | 14.2 ’24 | +1.00σ | |
| Cost of living index, US=100 | 90.1 ’24 | +1.28σ | |
| Crime deaths per 100,000 | 5.6 ’24 | −0.35σ | |
| Teen births per 1,000 females 15-19 | 14.7 ’24 | +0.10σ | |
| Wellbeing mean days of past 30 | 4.9 ’24 | +0.28σ | |
| School food quality | — | Rubric in development | |
| School shootings | 1 ’24 | Context · 3/10yr | |
| Obesity % of adults | 37.6 ’24 | −0.41σ | |
| Early literacy % of 4th graders | 40.1 ’24 | +0.58σ* | |
| Gun deaths deaths per 100,000 (age-adjusted) | 15.2 ’24 | +0.46σ | |
| Food-aid access index (higher = easier access) | 0.4 ’23 | −0.52σ | |
| Jobless-benefit access % of unemployed receiving UI | 14.0 ’24 | −1.49σ |
Data transparency — 100% of state-run reporting delivered this tenureFull reporting
Scores are trends vs. the other 49 states over this governor’s window, in σ; *thin data (under 3 points). Tap ? on any row for what it measures, its chart, and the source. All provisional while the term runs. Methodology v2.1
Unemployment Rate, 2010–2025
Kansas against all 49 other states Kansas 50-state median Other 49 states Scored window
Annual-average unemployment rate — the longest-running series on the card, charted in full. The shaded band is its scored window: it opens one year after inauguration and tracks through the newest published data. The dashed line is the 50-state median, shown for context; scoring uses the median of the other 49 states. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics.
The Record
Show the Work
every published number, reproducible| Education (NAEP (Nation's Report Card)) | +1.10σ · window 2021–2024 (2 pts, thin) · state +0.4%/yr vs peers −0.1%/yr |
| Air quality (EPA AirData) | −0.73σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state +2.4%/yr vs peers +0.7%/yr |
| Water quality (EPA SDWIS/ECHO) | +0.89σ · window 2020–2025 (6 pts) · state −0.5%/yr vs peers +0.1%/yr |
| Unemployment (BLS LAUS) | −1.36σ · window 2020–2025 (6 pts) · state −5.5%/yr vs peers −10.9%/yr |
| Health coverage (CDC BRFSS) | +0.26σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state −7.5%/yr vs peers −6.3%/yr |
| Tax burden (Census STC ÷ BEA personal income) | −0.35σ · window 2019–2024 (6 pts) · state +1.8%/yr vs peers +1.0%/yr |
| Energy cost (EIA) | +1.00σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state +2.3%/yr vs peers +4.8%/yr |
| Cost of living (BEA) | +1.28σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state −0.6%/yr vs peers +0.1%/yr |
| Crime (CDC WONDER) | −0.35σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state −4.2%/yr vs peers −6.0%/yr |
| Teen births (CDC WONDER) | +0.10σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state −4.8%/yr vs peers −4.6%/yr |
| Wellbeing (CDC BRFSS) | +0.28σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state +2.9%/yr vs peers +3.4%/yr |
| Obesity (CDC BRFSS) | −0.41σ · window 2021–2024 (4 pts) · state +1.3%/yr vs peers +0.7%/yr |
| Early literacy (NAEP (Nation's Report Card)) | +0.58σ · window 2021–2024 (2 pts, thin) · state +0.3%/yr vs peers +2.2%/yr |
| Gun deaths (CDC WONDER) | +0.46σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state −2.7%/yr vs peers −1.4%/yr |
| Food-aid access (USDA FNS) | −0.52σ · window 2020–2023 (3 pts) · state −2.2%/yr vs peers +0.9%/yr |
| Jobless-benefit access (US DOL ETA) | −1.49σ · window 2020–2024 (5 pts) · state −33.0%/yr vs peers −22.0%/yr |
| Overall (mean of domain scores) | +0.05σ · economy +0.31 · health +0.06 · environment +0.08 · public_safety +0.05 · education +0.84 · social_services −1.00 · fiscal −0.35 |
| Methodology | v2.1, preregistered — directions and lags fixed before scoring; full dataset at /pwr.json |
Every score is a fitted log-linear trend over that category’s window, minus the median trend of the other 49 states, standardized by the spread across states (σ) and capped at ±2.5. Positive always means “moved better than peers” under the category’s preregistered direction.
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Kansas has tracked the other 49 states almost exactly under Gov. Kelly — No. 9 of 29 governors with rated records, across 16 categories. — Political Grades, methodology v2.1, data through 2025. Provisional; trend-vs-peers scoring; relative movement, not causation.