Republican Masterson and Democrat Holscher to Face Off in Kansas Governor Race

LENEXA, Kan.–Republican Ty Masterson will face Democrat Cindy Holscher in the general election to become the next governor of Kansas.

Masterson, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump, won the crowded Republican primary on Aug. 4 in a landslide, beating Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, former state House Rep. Charlotte O’Hara, small businessman Nick Reinecker, former Mount Hope City Councilwoman Stacy Rogers, financial firm founder Philip Sarnecki, and pharmacist Vicki Schmidt.

“Tonight belongs to the people of this great state,” Masterson, the state Senate president, wrote in a statement on X. “Kansans said loud and clear: we want lower taxes, safe communities, educational freedom, and an economy that creates opportunity for every family.”

The Associated Press called the Republican primary race at 9:01 p.m. ET.

Holscher, a state senator, came out on top in the Democratic Party, beating state Sen. Ethan Corson as Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog trailed behind.

The Associated Press called the Democratic primary race at 10:23 p.m. ET.

“These are the worst of times to run for office, but there’s never been a time when we need great candidates more,” Holscher told her supporters at her victory party in Lenexa.

Holscher is running on a platform to lower the cost of living, increase the state minimum wage, cut property taxes, establish a moratorium on data centers, and legalize recreational and medicinal cannabis so residents don’t cross state lines and spend their money in Missouri and Colorado.

The Epoch Times contacted her campaign for details on a timeline but did not hear back.

Masterson, who has been the president of the Kansas Senate since 2021, wants to cut taxes, bring jobs to Kansas, and raise pay for teachers.

Kansas, which is one of 36 states with gubernatorial elections this year, has an open seat as current Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, was unable to run again due to term limits.

Cook Political Report ranks the seat as leaning Republican.

Trump won the state by 57.2 percent in the 2024 presidential election, and only five out of 105 counties voted for former Vice President Kamala Harris.

The Epoch Times spoke to voters in counties that swung left and right in the 2024 election.

In the Democrat-leaning Johnson County, where Harris won 53.4 percent of the vote in the 2024 presidential election, nearly a dozen people remained tight-lipped about their votes outside of a polling station in Overland Park.

“I won’t say who I voted for, but I made sure I was picking a non-MAGA candidate,” one female voter told The Epoch Times.

“I voted for Holscher,” said a young male who identified as a Democrat. “I met her before, and she was really nice. Her agenda aligns with what I want to see in Kansas.” 

Voters outside a polling location in the Republican-leaning Coffey County, which Trump won in the 2024 presidential election by 76.9 percent, said they had to spend a lot of time researching the crowded field of gubernatorial candidates before casting their ballots.

One Republican resident said he voted for Sarnecki because of his stance on providing tax relief for people in Kansas.

A separate Republican voter, a retired nurse, said she decided to vote for Masterson because he had Trump’s endorsement.

“I narrowed it down and then just drew a name out of a hat,” quipped another Republican voter, who cast her vote for Sarnecki.

Two voters in Lyon County, a Republican-leaning area just west of Coffey County, told The Epoch Times they were “all in” on Holscher due to her proposed moratorium on data centers.

The county is home to the city of Emporia, where locals have organized to push back on a proposed data center to be built on the edge of the community.

While serving in the state Senate, Holscher and Masterson both voted “Yes” on SB 98, which promoted data center expansion in the state by providing 20 years of sales tax exemptions to tech companies that invested $250 million to the state and provided at least 20 jobs.

The bill was signed into law in the spring of 2025.

Holscher, who announced her bid for governor after voting yes on the data center expansion bill, has walked back her stance. The Democrat is now calling for a statewide moratorium on new data centers until Kansas has “common-sense guardrails” to protect taxpayers and natural resources.