How many of the past 17 presidential elections (back to 1940) has the GOP won in Kansas?

a) 11

b) 13

c) 14

d) 16

Answer: d) Kansas has achieved its status as one of the nation’s leading Republican presidential strongholds by favoring the party’s nominees in 16 of the past 17 elections, including the past 10 in a row.

The last Democrat to carry the state was President Lyndon B. Johnson in a 1964 national landslide in which he defeated Republican Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater in 44 of the 50 states. Kansas is one of 11 states that voted for Johnson but have gone Republican in the 10 elections since, including the 1996 win by longtime homestate Sen. Bob Dole over President Bill Clinton.

To find a Democratic winner before Johnson, you have to go all the way back to Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936, when he won a landslide for a second term. Republican nominee Alf Landon lost 46 of the 48 states then in the Union — including his home state of Kansas.

Altogether Republicans have won 29 of the 36 presidential elections in which it has participated since 1864. The exceptions were Populist Party nominee James B. Weaver in 1892 and Democrats William Jennings Bryan in 1896, Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and 1916, Roosevelt in 1932 and 1936, and Johnson in 1964.