Top story
Kansas governor 2026: A guide to the candidates
Political experience: Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat, has served in the state Senate since 2021.
KCUR
Masterson
MastersonUpdated Oct 16, 2026, 2:28 PM ET
Democratic · 3 November 2026
Cindy Holscher
Member of the Kansas Senate from the 8th district (since 2021)
Cindy Holscher, a Kansas state senator since 2021, is the Democratic nominee for governor of Kansas in 2026, running to succeed term-limited Governor Laura Kelly.
2026 Races & Market Forecast
Live TruthIndex™ and prediction market consensus for races contested by Cindy Holscher.
Latest coverage
Live News
Recent media coverage for Cindy Holscher.
-
Culver City, California could become the 16th municipality to allow 16-year-olds to vote in local or school board elections
Alaska: Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (D), David Bronson (R), Treg Taylor (R), and Bernadette Wilson (R) advanced to the general election from the top-four primary). Incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) is term-limited.
news.ballotpedia.org
Kreiss-TomkinsParsi
Bronson -
Records shed light on Ty Masterson’s GoCreate director role
Records show Masterson sent 14 emails over four months while on unpaid leave from GoCreate (April–Aug 2026), with WSU confirming the activity.
Kansas City StarMasterson -
Kansas Senate race tight before Trump’s Wichita visit
The Kansas Senate race in which Derek Schmidt and others are involved is tight, with polling showing varying leads for candidates, and some polls suggesting Hamilton leads by 1–3% while others show a tie (including a…
Kansas City StarMasterson -
Hamilton Leads Kansas Senate Race, Forcing GOP Spending
The article discusses the Kansas governor’s race, highlighting that Republican leaders (including State Senate President Ty Masterson) are polling ahead against Democrat Cindy Holscher for the open governor’s seat, with…
-
Aurora says it’s “actively exploring” alternatives to Curaleaf
Cindy Holscher, the Kansas Democratic nominee for governor, argues that Kansas should legalize cannabis now.
More coverage 4
-
Someone has to clean up the crap in Topeka.
Cindy Holscher announces her candidacy for Governor of Kansas. She uses her background growing up on a farm to create an analogy between cleaning up animal
-
Cindy in the News | Cindy Holscher for Governor
Holscher, elected to the Legislature nearly a decade ago, has been endorsed by Kelly and former Democratic Govs. Kathleen Sebelius and John Carlin.
-
🚨NEW AD: I will always put Kansas families first. ...
Today, Senator Cindy Holscher announced she's been endorsed by more than two dozen leaders across Kansas in her campaign for governor.
-
100 Kansas Republicans Are Now Backing Cindy Holscher for Governor
Throughout her time in Topeka, Holscher has brought Republicans and Democrats together around practical and pragmatic solutions.
No story this week names this candidate.
- Born
- April 26, 1969
- Birthplace
- Slater, Missouri
- Education
- University of Missouri–Columbia (degrees in journalism and political science, 1992)
Biography & Campaign Analysis
Background
Cynthia L. Holscher (née Blumhorst) was born on April 26, 1969, and grew up on a farm outside Slater, Missouri, the daughter of Archie, a union concrete construction worker, and Wanita, who drove a bus and worked as a school custodian.
A 1987 Slater High School graduate, she became the first in her family to finish college, completing journalism and political science degrees at the University of Missouri–Columbia in 1992.
Most of her working life was spent in corporate management roles at Sprint, and she also substitute-taught on a temporary basis in Johnson County schools. She and Greg Holscher married in September 1992 and have three children.
Career
Holscher won the District 16 seat in the Kansas House of Representatives in 2016, unseating Republican incumbent Amanda Grosserode, and kept it in the 2018 election. In 2020 she won election to the Kansas Senate from the 8th district over Republican state representative James Todd, and she has held that seat since 2021.
2026 race
On June 12, 2025, Holscher launched a bid for governor of Kansas, the first Democrat to do so, in the race to succeed term-limited Democratic governor Laura Kelly, and on May 14, 2026, she named Wichita state representative Kelechi Ohaebosim as her running mate.
She is the Democratic nominee for the November 3, 2026, election, following primaries held on August 4, 2026.
Her campaign has centered on living costs and public education, and she supports legalizing cannabis for medical and recreational use, a statewide data center moratorium and Medicaid expansion in Kansas.