r/kansas

For the first time in 32 years, Kansas voters will only have two choices for governor — Republican Ty Masterson or Democrat Cindy Holscher.

Kansas’ last seven gubernatorial cycles have featured at least one independent or third-party candidate on the November ballot. None have cracked double-digit percentage points in the vote share. But their presence has shaped races and fueled accusations of playing spoiler.

When Democrat Laura Kelly won her first term as governor in 2018, she bested Republican Kris Kobach by 5 percentage points. Independent Greg Orman earned 6.5% of the vote.

Four years later, Kelly defeated Republican Derek Schmidt by 2.2 percentage points. An independent and a Libertarian candidate received a combined 3.1% of the vote.

The Kansas Secretary of State’s office confirmed that no independent candidates for governor collected enough signatures to appear on the ballot this year.

“When there’s a third or fourth candidate on the ballot, they get votes but in some ways it doesn’t really matter who they are,” said Bob Beatty, who teaches political science at Washburn University.

“There’s a percentage of people that don’t want to vote for either party,” he added.

This year, Kansas voters disenchanted with the major-party candidates won’t have the option of casting a protest vote. That means they may stay home or they may listen a bit more intently to the arguments that Holscher and Masterson make, Beatty said.

Courting unaffiliated voters

If unaffiliated voters were their own political party, they would be the second largest party in Kansas, which has roughly 2 million registered voters.

In November 2025, there were 897,243 registered Republicans, 495,691 registered Democrats and 575,983 unaffiliated voters in Kansas, according to the Secretary of State’s most recent data.

“Unaffiliateds go Democratic in statewide elections, according to exit polls,” Beatty said. “They’re out there. They’re a group for Democrats to have if they can reach them.”

But unaffiliated voters are also the most likely to skip going to the polls, he said.

“It’s a big task for that Democrat because they’re fighting party ID with Republicans who overperform on general election day,” Beatty said.

National Republicans have identified Kansas as one of the best targets to flip a governorship from blue to red in 2026. The Republican Governors Association has already booked nearly $7 million in ad buys supporting Masterson, the Kansas Senate president, and attacking Holscher, an Overland Park senator, between now and November.

In a statement, Masterson laid out his pitch to unaffiliated voters.

“Unaffiliated voters pay the same property taxes and grocery bills as everyone else, and they deserve a governor who listens to them,” Masterson said. “Everyone gets a seat at my table, ‘R’ next to their name or not.”

The Andover Republican touted the endorsement he received from Kansas’ transportation workers union over the weekend after the union’s legislative director feuded with Holscher during the primary.

“Even Laura Kelly calls my opponent an extremist on the left wing,” Masterson said. “Kansans in the middle deserve better than that.”

Kelly supported Fairway Sen. Ethan Corson in the primary but has since endorsed her party’s nominee, telling reporters the day after the primary that it’s “absolutely imperative that Cindy Holscher win this election.”

Riley Osen, a spokesperson for Holscher’s campaign, painted Masterson as a corrupt “MAGA extremist” and a loyalist to Kelly’s predecessor, former GOP Gov. Sam Brownback, whose deep tax cuts imperiled state finances before they were repealed. Masterson voted against the tax cut reversal.

“There are many Republicans, moderates, and independents who think Sam Brownback went too far, who don’t want an extreme abortion ban and are sick of politics as usual,” Osen said.

In a head-to-head race between two longtime lawmakers, Osen said Holscher’s record is the one that should appeal to undecided voters.

“In the Legislature, Cindy Holscher has worked across the aisle to solve problems, including ending the failed Brownback experiment, taking on special interests, and standing up for victims of sexual assault,” Osen said. “She’s laser-focused on lowering the cost of living, and she’s running a campaign that will appeal to all Kansans regardless of party label.”

‘Fed up’ independents

Dennis Pyle, a former conservative state senator who left the Republican Party in 2022 before launching an independent bid for governor, said he doesn’t regret his campaign — even though Republicans widely blamed him for then-Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s loss to Kelly.

“People are pretty much tied into the two-party system to a degree that they don’t see the third-party candidates as winners,” Pyle said.

Kelly bested Schmidt by 22,258 votes in the last gubernatorial election. Pyle collected 20,452 votes. Libertarian Seth Cordell drew 11,106 votes.

“I just believed in my heart that I needed to run as an independent in 2022,” said Pyle, who was stripped of his Senate committee assignments by Masterson after he sided with Democrats attempting to block the passage of a map with new congressional district boundaries.

He plans to vote in this year’s governor race. But he said plenty of people won’t because they don’t feel represented by either the Republicans or the Democrats.

“They’re fed up with it,” Pyle said. “I think there is a lot of that sentiment today.”

State Senator Mike Thompson (Republican) represents state senate district 10 which covers the cities of Shawnee & parts of Lenexa in Johnson County.

He’s ranting on his FB page today 8/18/26 because he’s upset about a yearbook from Derby high school. He posted pics of yearbook pages showing quotes from students about current events that don’t speak favorably about Trump or ICE, photos & and an article about an anti-ICE protest, and an article about a student’s hobby of participating in drag shows.

Mike Thompson falsely claims Kansas public schools are fully funded and then he threatens to scrutinize and revoke funding from any school that “allows such items” in their yearbooks. (Btw, in case you don’t know, the rights of student journalists are enshrined in Kansas law, and there’s also the First Amendment).

I don’t know if Facebook links are allowed here on Reddit, but if you want to read his post, his page is listed as “Kansas Senator Mike Thompson“. He’s being roasted in the comments.

Soooo, I am wondering why KS doesn't do a thing like California did with prop 13 where your property taxes is locked into the purchase price of your home and not the new market value?

Edit: the reason I asked is because my mom said she saw an ad about how Ty Masterson would lower property taxes, I just saw the ad, he doesn't say how.

But seriously, if your house is paid off it is goddamn ridiculous you would be taxed out of it. We need a locked in valuation of property for tax purposes, WTF does it go up every goddamn year when there are no improvements!!!!

Since 1932, Republicans have won every U.S. Senate election in Kansas. It is, by far, the longest winning streak of its kind in the upper chamber of Congress.

However, political scientist Bob Beatty of Washburn University believes the race between incumbent Republican Kansas Sen. Roger Marshall and Democrat Rev. Adam Hamilton is going to become a critical matchup to watch in this year’s midterms.

Beatty thinks that Hamilton’s ability to communicate — which he honed as a pastor — has helped him tremendously in his campaign. Plus, he has been a very successful fundraiser so far.

“He did jump in the race and raised a million dollars in one week,” Beatty told KCUR's Up To Date. “And I knew immediately that we've got a race in Kansas.”

Do you think the seat will flip?

Each week, members of the grassroots group Northland Neighbors United gather to support families visiting their loved ones at ICE’s Leavenworth Midwest Regional Reception Center, run by CoreCivic.

My name is Eleanor Nash, reporter with The Kansas City Star, and I went to Leavenworth, Kansas to see the ICE detention center and meet members of Northland Neighbors United.

On alternating Sunday afternoons and Wednesday evenings, the group holds what they call “vigils,” meeting outside the prison-like facility to share resources and be a visible presence against increased immigration enforcement.

Sometimes the group’s volunteers offer support in the form of toilet paper, shampoo, mutual aid money; and other times, it’s a person to talk to.

Miranda Richards, a core member of Northland Neighbors United, told me she hopes their vigils let CoreCivic staff know “we’re watching them.”

“We don’t want to be protesting because somebody died here,” she said.

Read my full story to learn about the work of Northland Neighbors United and the experiences of immigrants inside of the Leavenworth ICE facility.