Democrat Cindy Holscher is expected to become Kansas’ next governor, marking the first time the state has had two consecutive female governors, according to Decision Desk HQ.
In addition to the governorship, Democrats will also take a Senate seat in Kansas — the first time that’s happened since the 1930s — as the blue wave that engulfed the country this Election Day sweeps through the state. With Holscher’s victory, Democrats have now won three consecutive Kansas gubernatorial elections, something that has not happened since 1974.
But the race was extremely close and was not announced until Thursday. The Democratic senator defeated Republican Senate President Ty Masterson. Holscher will replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
Holscher campaigned on “common sense and cost-cutting” — a winning message that defined several major races this election cycle, including megachurch Methodist pastor Adam Hamilton, who broke a nearly century-long record of Republicans controlling Senate seats in Kansas, and James Talarico in Texas, the first Democrat to represent the state in the Senate since 1994.
Holscher, who grew up on a farm and comes from a union and military family, focused her campaign on lowering the cost of living in Kansas, expanding Medicaid and making college more affordable.
When she was in the state Senate, she supported tax incentives for data center developers. But during this election cycle, she changed her position on an issue that has been particularly motivating for women voters in rural parts of the country.
“What changed my position was the voters, the people across the state, and the new information,” she told the Johnson County Post in September. “We’ve seen these hyperscale data centers come to communities that are sucking up our water, driving up utility rates, and not creating the jobs that were promised. So I’ve called for a moratorium – a pause – so we can all be on the same page. Essentially, let’s take a deep breath and focus on what this should really look like.”
Holscher pushed back against claims that she was the most radical candidate in Kansas history. Every race she won for House and Senate seats was in red districts, she said.
“The fact is, the things I support — Medicaid expansion, access to affordable housing, access to affordable child care, lowering property taxes, legalizing cannabis and funding public schools — are all things supported by a large majority of Kansans,” she said. “I’m with people and where they are, and that’s very common.”
Today, she adds her gubernatorial victory to the list of races she won with Republican support.
“I can’t be very extreme if Republicans continue to elect me,” she said in late September. “It’s the Republicans who helped get me elected in every election cycle I’ve run.”
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