Democrat Cindy Holscher wins election for governor in Kansas

By The Associated Press
November 12 2026 02:45 PM

Democrat Cindy Holscher won election Thursday as governor of Kansas, defeating Republican Ty Masterson. Holscher’s win will keep the governor’s office under Democratic control after the departure of term-limited Gov. Laura Kelly. The victory also breaks a 60-year streak in Kansas of electing governors from the party opposite that of their immediate predecessors. Holscher, a state senator since 2021, focused on affordability issues while also promising to institute a temporary moratorium on building new data centers. Masterson, the state Senate president, ran with the backing of President Donald Trump. The Associated Press declared Holscher the winner at 5:43 p.m. EST.

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