Kansas Democrats have defied political gravity for eight years by holding the governor’s office in one of the country’s most reliably Republican states.
On Tuesday, primary voters selected State Senator Cindy Holscher as the candidate to try to keep that seat in Democratic hands, according to The Associated Press. Ms. Holscher defeated a fellow lawmaker, State Senator Ethan Corson, who was backed by the outgoing Democratic governor, Laura Kelly. Mayor Curt Skoog of Overland Park also sought the nomination.
The race became a test of what sort of candidate Democratic voters prefer in what is expected to be a challenging general election race: a more moderate candidate like Mr. Corson with endorsements from party leaders or an outspoken populist like Ms. Holscher, who spoke out against data centers and the political establishment.
Even in a national political environment that could favor Democrats, Republicans see the Kansas governorship as among their best opportunities for flipping a seat. President Trump carried Kansas by 16 percentage points in 2024, and Republicans hold supermajorities in the State Legislature. Voters in the Republican primary for governor nominated Ty Masterson, the president of the Kansas Senate and the recipient of Mr. Trump’s endorsement, according to The A.P.
Ms. Holscher, who is from suburban Kansas City, sought out a lane to Mr. Corson’s political left and made inroads with some of the state’s progressive voters. She emphasized her role in unwinding former Gov. Sam Brownback’s tax policies and called for a moratorium on data centers. She also spoke against a final deal to lure the Kansas City Chiefs across the state line from Missouri.
Ms. Holscher presented an implicit critique of Ms. Kelly’s stewardship of Kansas, referring to Mr. Corson as part of a political establishment that was too cozy with corporations and out of touch with the party’s voters.
“We have in front of us the ability to hire someone essentially who will work for the working people of Kansas,” Ms. Holscher said at a recent debate hosted by PBS Kansas, “or hire someone who will take you down the path of the status quo and continue working for the establishment.”
On the campaign trail, Mr. Corson, who represents a safely Democratic district in suburban Kansas City, positioned himself as the heir to the Kelly political coalition.
Governor Kelly, who has won far more votes than other Democrats in conservative rural counties, filmed a commercial supporting Mr. Corson as her preferred successor. And Mr. Corson described himself as someone who could appeal to a range of voters, not just loyal Democrats.
“What Kansas Democrats should be thinking about is who can win this race in November,” Mr. Corson said at the PBS debate.
Ms. Kelly, herself a former state senator who emerged from a competitive primary, offers proof that Democrats can sometimes win in Kansas — even though Republicans have carried it in every presidential election since the 1960s.
In 2018, Ms. Kelly defeated Kris W. Kobach, now the state attorney general, by riding a wave of voter discontent with Republican tax policies and Mr. Kobach’s brash political style. Four years later, Ms. Kelly won re-election in a national environment that was less favorable to Democrats by branding herself as the “middle-of-the-road” candidate.
Kansas is among four Midwestern states — along with Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin — where Democrats flipped governorships in 2018, and where the party is seeking to maintain control this year. Of those, all but Illinois are expected to be competitive, but Kansas is considered to be Democrats’ most difficult electoral fight.
Mr. Masterson, who won a competitive primary, will run on the president’s endorsement and a record of leading a Republican supermajority in the Senate to override Ms. Kelly’s vetoes on a range of conservative priorities, including restricting official recognition of transgender identity and overhauling election laws.
Still, Democrats are hopeful that Ms. Kelly’s record and Kansas voters’ independent streak could help them hold onto the governor’s office in November. The state’s most populous county, Johnson County in suburban Kansas City, has shifted dramatically toward Democrats during the Trump era, and Kansas voters rejected an effort in 2022 to change the State Constitution to allow for a ban on abortion. Kansas Democrats have historically performed better in midterm elections than in presidential years, with several Democratic governors elected in recent decades.
Democrats hope to retain their single seat in the Kansas congressional delegation in November. Though Republicans sought to redraw U.S. House district lines last year, Ms. Kelly’s expected veto meant that almost every Republican lawmaker would have had to agree to enact a new map. Several Republicans scuttled the plan, leaving in place a left-leaning district in the Kansas City area that is held by Representative Sharice Davids, a Democrat.
