Stephen Koranda also contributed to this report.
Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson defeated six other Republicans to clinch the GOP nomination for governor, while Overland Park state Sen. Cindy Holscher nabbed the Democratic nomination.
Holscher’s win overturns the will of outgoing Gov. Laura Kelly, who had endorsed fellow Johnson County Democratic state Sen. Ethan Corson in the race.
Overland Park Mayor Curt Skoog came in third place in the Democratic race.
Masterson, from Andover, received a key endorsement from Republican President Donald Trump during the campaign. In his speech after the win, he thanked the president.
"I want to thank President Trump for his friendship and his support throughout this campaign,” Masterson said. “I'm proud to stand with him as we fight for Kansas.”
Corson received endorsements from Kelly and former Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius. Despite this, Holscher came away with the Democratic nomination.
Both winning candidates focused their campaigns on affordability in their victory speeches.
“We need young mothers not worried about grocery and gas prices, small businesses worried about making payroll,” Masterson said. “We need to make sure that Kansas is the model in the nation."
Holscher sent a more populist message in her speech.
“People want their leaders to stand up to the corporations that are ripping people off and making things more expensive,” she said.
She also attacked her GOP opponent, comparing him to former Republican Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback.
Brownback’s critics point to tax cuts passed under his watch and budget troubles that followed. Lawmakers eventually used a bipartisan coalition — including Holscher, who was elected in 2016 — to override Brownback’s veto and reverse many of those tax cuts.
“Ty Masterson as governor would drag us back to the Brownback years,” she said. “It would be politics as usual with a side of MAGA extremism.”
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