Kansas governor race: Democrat Cindy Holscher defeats Ty Masterson by about 7,500 votes, AP says

The Associated Press on Thursday called the Kansas governor race for Democrat Cindy Holscher, who beat Republican Ty Masterson by about 7,500 votes in the midterm election, AP reported. Masterson conceded and said he had called Holscher to congratulate her, according to KMBC.

Kansas governor race: what the AP call means

Holscher and Masterson were neck and neck on election night, and the narrow margin led to a post-election audit, KMBC said. Holscher and outgoing Governor Laura Kelly had declared victory on Wednesday 4 November, a day after the election, as the count headed to a state-required audit, KCTV5 reported. The AP made its call on Thursday.

Holscher is a state senator. She replaces Kelly, a Democrat who was term-limited, per AP. The result keeps the governor’s office with Democrats for a third straight election, the first time one party has done that in Kansas since four-year terms began in 1974, KMBC said.

Key numbers

• About 7,500 votes: Holscher’s lead when the AP called the race, according to KMBC.
• Just over 551,000 votes: Holscher’s total as of Thursday, per KCTV5.
• $19 million: television and digital advertising by the Republican Governors Association, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact, as reported by AP.
• 1932: the last time before this year that Kansas elected a Democratic U.S. senator, KCTV5 said.

How Cindy Holscher won

Holscher promised to halt new data centres and overcame a flood of Republican money, AP said. She captured more than 60 per cent of the vote in Johnson County, which offset Masterson’s large margins in solidly Republican rural areas, the AP report said.

Democrats also won a Senate seat in Kansas. Adam Hamilton, a pastor, became the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate from the state since 1932, according to KCTV5. Democrats had already secured a majority of governorships in the country for the first time in two decades before the Kansas call, AP said.

What Ty Masterson said

Masterson, who has served as Kansas Senate president since 2021, was endorsed by President Donald Trump in the Republican primary, Fox News reported. He conceded in a post on X. He said he would return to the Senate in January to focus on property taxes, public safety, affordability and schools, and pointed to continued Republican control of the Legislature.

Holscher said in a video posted on Tuesday: “Kansans have sent a clear message that they want to keep our state moving forward.”

What happens next

Holscher’s inauguration will take place on Monday 11 January 2027 in Topeka, KCTV5 said. She will govern alongside a Republican-led Legislature, so property taxes and school funding are likely early tests. The Kansas governor race is settled, and Masterson returns to the Senate in January.