Michael Hoelscher, a Republican, is on the ballot for Kansas District Court Judge in District 18, Division 19, in the Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, general election. He has held the seat since 2015.

Division 19 judges handle cases in the juvenile department of the 18th Judicial District Court, located at 1900 E. Morris St. in Wichita, according to the court's website. Voters in Sedgwick County will decide whether Hoelscher continues in the role.

Candidate information

  • Party: Republican
  • Office sought: Kansas District Court Judge, District 18, Division 19
  • Education: Bachelor's degree from Newman University; law degree from Washburn University
  • Age: 49 as of the 2018 Wichita Bar Association judicial survey, reported by the Wichita Eagle

Experience and public service

Hoelscher worked as an assistant district attorney at the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office from 2002 to 2008, according to a Kansas Judicial Branch news release. He then served as an assistant city attorney at the Wichita City Attorney's Office from 2008 to 2015.

He first won election to the bench in 2014, defeating Diane Sherwood in the Republican primary and running unopposed in the general election on Nov. 4, 2014, according to the Kansas Judicial Branch. He has served as judge of District 18, Division 19, since 2015.

In 2017, Kansas Supreme Court Chief Justice Lawton R. Nuss appointed Hoelscher as the Kansas representative to the International Hague Network of Judges, according to the Kansas Judicial Branch. The network links U.S. judges with counterparts overseas in parental child abduction cases and trains judges about the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

Endorsements

In 2022, Kansans for Life endorsed all 11 Sedgwick County district court judges on the ballot that year, including Hoelscher, according to KMUW. No 2026-specific endorsement data was available for this profile.

The Wichita Ledger did not interview the candidate for this profile. Information is drawn from public records, BallotReady election data and published news sources. No policy questionnaire responses from the candidate were available.