Twenty-one current and former Republican elected officials in Kansas have endorsed Democratic state Sen. Cindy Holscher for governor, her campaign announced on Sept. 23.
The coalition, called “Republicans for Cindy,” is made up mostly of former Republican state lawmakers.
It includes former House Majority Whip Kent Thompson, former Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger, and Wabaunsee County Sheriff Eric Kirsch.
Holscher faces Republican Ty Masterson, the president of the Kansas Senate, in the race to succeed Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who is term-limited.
Masterson won the Aug. 4 Republican primary after Trump endorsed him in May.
“Ty Masterson has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Governor of Kansas — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time.
State Rep. Joe Seiwert, who is not seeking reelection, is the only current legislator on the list.
Seiwert told The Epoch Times in an email that he supports Holscher but has not endorsed her, and that he also supports Masterson.
“I [have known] both of them for many years, and they are both good friends,” Seiwert said in an email. “And again it takes a strong person to run for that office on either party.
“I’ve known Cindy for a long time, and she’s stuck up for me many times when leadership removed me from my chair positions because I represented my district.”
Masterson’s campaign said the list doesn’t reflect the race.
“Ty has built a coalition of Kansans regardless of party affiliation: farmers and ranchers, small businesses, union workers, and Democrats who are ready for change,” Garrett Henson, the campaign’s communications director, said in a statement. “Cindy Holscher’s own Democratic governor called her an ‘extremist.’ And the day after she said ‘I am no socialist’ on the State Fair stage, she campaigned at a Democratic Socialists event. A list of the usual democrat endorsers doesn’t erase her record.”
Kelly endorsed Holscher on Aug. 5, the day after the primary. In July, before the primary, Holscher responded to reporting on Kelly’s argument that she was too extremist.
“Throughout my time in the legislature, and throughout my entire campaign for governor, I have always put everyday Kansans first,” Holscher said in a July 10 statement. “I don’t believe our farmlands should be decimated and our water supply drained for massive A.I. data centers that bring no value to local economies. They say I’m too anti-establishment because I’m against unfair stadium deals that benefit the billionaire team owners instead of Kansans. These aren’t extremist positions, they’re just common sense. There’s nothing extremist about standing up for working people or believing our tax dollars should work for us, not be given out to corporations.”
Holscher’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Seiwert’s statement before publication.
Masterson, who has led the state Senate since 2021, is campaigning on cutting taxes, bringing jobs to Kansas, and raising teacher pay.
“Tonight belongs to the people of this great state,” Masterson wrote on X after winning the primary. “Kansans said loud and clear: we want lower taxes, safe communities, educational freedom, and an economy that creates opportunity for every family.”
Trump carried Kansas with 57.2 percent of the vote in 2024. The Cook Political Report rates the governor’s race as Lean Republican.
Holscher’s campaign said many of the Republicans backing her served in the legislature alongside both candidates.
It said her bipartisan record dates to her first term in the Kansas House, when she co-founded a coalition of lawmakers that ended former Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax cuts.
“Kansans have never cared much about party labels when it comes to fixing real problems,” Holscher said in a statement.
“When the Brownback tax experiment was bankrupting our schools and roads, Republicans and Democrats came together to clean up the mess that Ty Masterson helped create, and I’m grateful to have these leaders in my corner, because Kansas works best when we put our state ahead of our party.”
Former Rep. Tom Sloan, one of the Republicans in the coalition, said he had worked with Holscher in the legislature.
“As a lifelong Republican and 12-term member of the Kansas House of Representatives, I value common sense, consensus-building elected officials who have the long-term interests of Kansans in mind,” Sloan said.
“Short-term and divisive policies are a disservice to all Kansans. I worked with Cindy in the legislature and know that as governor she will work with members of both political parties to strengthen our public and higher education schools, keep rural hospitals open, and grow the Kansas economy.”
Masterson’s campaign declined to comment on the endorsements in response to a request from The Epoch Times.
Following a debate earlier this month, the Republican Governor’s Association’s Communications Director Kollin Crompton said of the race, “Ty Masterson has been laser-focused on fighting to lower property taxes.
“While he was working to deliver relief for Kansas families, Cindy Holscher voted against capping property taxes and has embraced the most radical elements of the Democratic Party.
“It will take one look at these candidates’ records for hardworking Kansans to see Ty Masterson is the only one who will lower property taxes and get Kansas back on track.”
The endorsements came on the same day as the Cook Political Report moved Kansas’s U.S. Senate race, between Republican Sen. Roger Marshall and Democrat Adam Hamilton, from Likely Republican to Lean Republican—meaning the race has become more competitive.
Jacki Thrapp contributed to this report.
