Who's In the Race
Republican Ty Masterson and Democrat Cindy Holscher face each other in Kansas's governor's race on Nov. 3. Incumbent Democrat Laura Kelly did not seek reelection.
Both nominees emerged from Aug. 4 primaries. Masterson won the Republican contest with 143,202 votes out of 332,116 cast, about 43 percent of the total, in a nine-candidate field. Holscher won the Democratic primary and was the only nominee-level candidate in a three-candidate race; the Democratic primary drew 226,407 total votes, about 106,000 fewer than the Republican contest.
Endorsements
President Donald Trump endorsed Masterson in May. Jeff Colyer, a statewide official, also backed Masterson ahead of the primary.
Laura Kelly endorsed Holscher on Aug. 6, and Kathleen Sebelius endorsed her in September. Statewide official Lynn Rogers endorsed Democrat Cindy Holscher in June 2025.
Race Outlook: Ratings and Polling
Two major race-rating services assessed the Kansas governor's race on the same day, but they do not fully agree on where it stands.
Sabato's Crystal Ball rates the race Lean Republican, updated Oct. 28. Cook Political Report rates it a Toss-up, also updated Oct. 28. The consensus rating, updated Oct. 23, is Lean Republican.
In polling aggregated by Legis1 across 16 surveys through Oct. 29, Masterson leads Holscher 49 percent to 47 percent, a two-point margin.
Previous Elections
In the 2024 presidential election, Kansas voted for Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris by 57 percent to 41 percent, a margin of about 16 percentage points.
In the last governor's race, in 2022, Democrat Laura Kelly defeated Republican Derek Schmidt 499,849 votes to 477,591, a margin of 22,258 votes, even as the state votes heavily Republican in presidential contests.
---
AllCiv makes it easy to stay politically informed and involved.
---
Spot something wrong? Report an issue with this article