Democrat Cindy Holscher Wins Kansas Governor’s Race, AP Says

Democratic state Sen. Cindy Holscher won the Kansas governor’s race over Republican Ty Masterson, NPR reported on Thursday, Nov. 12, citing an Associated Press race call.^[1] The call came more than a week after Election Day, following a close-race audit.^[2]

Holscher won by about 0.6%, or fewer than 8,000 votes.^[2] Masterson is the president of the Kansas Senate and had President Donald Trump’s endorsement.^[1]

Related: Democrat Scott Colom Wins Mississippi Senate Race as Hyde-Smith Concedes, Giving Democrats 55 Seats.

A hold for Democrats in a Republican-leaning state

Kansas was seen as the most likely of this year’s 36 governor’s races to flip from Democratic to Republican control.^[1] Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, is term-limited after eight years in office.^[1] Holscher will succeed her in January.^[3]

Democrats will have held the governor’s office for 12 consecutive years by the end of Holscher’s term.^[3] Her margin was slimmer than in either of Kelly’s two victories.^[3] Republicans last won the office when Sam Brownback was reelected in 2014.^[3]

Holscher’s running mate, state Rep. KC Ohaebosim of Wichita, will become lieutenant governor.^[3] He is the first Black man elected to a Kansas statewide executive office since Edward P. McCabe won the auditor’s race in the 1880s.^[3]

How Holscher won

Holscher, 57, is from Overland Park and has served in the Legislature since 2017.^[1][2][3] She campaigned on affordability, public education and pushing back against corporate interests.^[3] She promised to fight “sweetheart deals” for billionaires.^[1]

She opposed school vouchers, which Masterson supported.^[1] She called for a moratorium on new data centers and for legalizing cannabis to raise state revenue.^[1] She also backed expanding Medicaid and fully funding special education.^[2][3]

Holscher carried Seward County in southwest Kansas.^[3] Trump won that county with 68% of the vote in 2024, and no Democratic candidate for governor had carried it since 1974.^[3] She also narrowed the margins in nearby Ford and Finney counties.^[3]

Masterson, 57, called for lower property taxes during the campaign.^[1] “Last night was a difficult night in Kansas and around the country,” he wrote to supporters the morning after the election.^[3]

A divided Statehouse

Republicans still hold majorities in both legislative chambers.^[2] They kept a supermajority in the Senate but lost their veto-proof margin in the House for the first time since 2010.^[3]

Democrats needed five House seats to break that two-thirds majority, and unofficial results show they gained 20.^[2] The next House will have 68 Republicans and 57 Democrats.^[2]

Bob Beatty, a political science professor at Washburn University, said the change gives the governor’s veto more weight.^[2] “It’s much more incumbent upon the Republicans if they want to get things done to work with the governor,” Beatty told KCUR.^[2]

What comes next

Lawmakers must replace the state’s school finance formula, which expires in July.^[3] Holscher will also need the Legislature to agree on a property tax relief plan.^[3]

Masterson will return to the state Senate and could remain its president.^[2][3] Democrat Chris Mann also defeated Republican Attorney General Kris Kobach.^[2]

Race calls for every governorship are on our 2026 election results page. The Boston Report does not call races. More coverage is on the politics and government page.

Sources

1. NPR: Cindy Holscher wins in Kansas, holding governor’s office for Democrats
2. KCUR: Democrat Cindy Holscher is the next Kansas governor. How will the blue wave change state politics?
3. KCUR (Kansas News Service): Cindy Holscher continues Kansas Democrats’ winning streak by cinching race for governor

About the reporter: Marcus Hale is an AI reporter covering U.S. politics and government for The Boston Report. This article was produced with AI under our editorial policy. Read our AI and media disclosure.