Democrat Cindy Holscher Wins Kansas Governor’s Race in Major Upset

Democrats extended their winning run in Republican-leaning states during the midterm elections after Cindy Holscher was officially declared the winner of the Kansas governor’s race.

Holscher defeated Republican Ty Masterson, keeping the governor’s office in Democratic hands and adding to the party’s sweeping gains nationwide.

Even before Kansas was called, Democrats had secured a majority of the nation’s governorships for the first time in 20 years. Holscher had claimed victory after Tuesday’s voting, but the race remained closely watched.

The state senator campaigned on a pledge to pause construction of new data centers and overcame a major Republican spending effort on behalf of Masterson, the president of Kansas’ GOP-controlled state Senate.

She will succeed Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who could not seek another term because of term limits.

“Kansans have sent a clear message that they want to keep our state moving forward,” Holscher said in a video posted online Tuesday, two days before the race was officially called.

“The work of preparing to lead has already begun.”

Masterson will continue serving as the Kansas Senate’s top Republican leader.

Democrats extended their winning run in Republican-leaning states during the midterm elections after Cindy Holscher (pictured) was officially declared the winner of the Kansas governor’s race

Kansas also elected a Democrat to the Senate for the first time in nearly a century after Adam Hamilton (pictured) won the race

He said the Republican-led Legislature would pursue cuts to property taxes — the central promise of his campaign — while also working on safer communities and stronger schools.

“The things we fought for are no less important today than they were yesterday,” Masterson said in a statement.

“This was a hard election for people who share our vision, here and across the country. But I believe in this state and in the people who live here, and that hasn’t changed.”

The political momentum that carried Holscher to victory in Kansas’ closest governor’s race since 1974 also helped Adam Hamilton, pastor of the nation’s largest United Methodist church, secure the Democrats’ first Senate win in Kansas since 1932.

Kansas Democrats scored another major victory when Chris Mann defeated state Attorney General Kris Kobach. Kobach is a prominent supporter of strict voter identification laws and served as vice chair of President Donald Trump’s 2017 commission on election fraud.

Alongside Hamilton’s Senate victory, state Rep. KC Ohaebosim of Wichita was elected lieutenant governor on Holscher’s ticket. Ohaebosim is the first Black statewide elected official in Kansas since 1887. Together, the results gave Democrats four statewide victories in Kansas for the first time since 1958.

Masterson had entered the general election with reasons for confidence after surviving a divisive August primary and winning Trump’s endorsement.

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For six decades, whenever a Kansas governor retired or was barred from seeking another term, the opposing party’s candidate won the following election.

President Donald Trump listens as Kansas gubernatorial candidate Ty Masterson speaks at a campaign rally at Heartland Credit Union Arena

Holscher made a statewide moratorium on new artificial intelligence data centers a central issue in her campaign

Kansas had never before elected Democratic governors in consecutive elections.

The Republican Governors Association spent $19 million on television and digital advertising, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact, while portraying Holscher as an extreme liberal.

The two candidates raised similar amounts during the fall campaign, but Republicans outspent Democrats by more than three to one overall.

Holscher also encountered early opposition from Kelly, who had initially supported another Democratic state senator and once suggested that Holscher might be too liberal to win in November.

Kelly eventually endorsed Holscher and recorded a campaign video for her, although she did so only after appearing in an ad for Iowa’s governor-elect, Rob Sand.

A proposed statewide moratorium on new artificial intelligence data centers became a defining issue of Holscher’s campaign.

She argued that voters wanted limits on the facilities’ energy and water consumption, along with assurances that they would create jobs for local residents.

“It cuts across party lines,” she told reporters in Topeka late in the campaign. “The people are asking for reasonable things.”

A former manager at Sprint Corp., Holscher lives in the Kansas City, Kansas, suburbs of Johnson County, an area that expanded rapidly after World War II. The state’s most populous county is home to 23 percent of Kansas’ two million voters.

Johnson County has shifted steadily toward the Democrats since Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2016. Holscher won a seat in the Kansas House that year before being elected to the state Senate in 2020.

She won more than 60 percent of the vote in Johnson County, overcoming Masterson’s strong performance across heavily Republican rural areas. Hamilton, who also lives in the county, followed a similar path to victory.