Kansas Republican senate president announces 2026 gubernatorial bid

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TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson entered the race for governor on Sunday as the 2026 Republican primary field gets more crowded.

Republicans are keen to recapture the governor’s office in GOP-leaning Kansas after Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly narrowly won a second four-year term in 2022. Kelly is term-limited and cannot run again.

Masterson, a small-business owner, has been a state senator representing a district in eastern Kansas since 2009. He became Senate president in 2021. He previously served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 2005 to 2008.

Other Republicans in the 2026 governor's race include Secretary of State Scott Schwab, who built his public profile pushing back against unfounded election conspiracy theories, and former Gov. Jeff Colyer.

Colyer was elevated to the office for about a year in 2018 after former Gov. Sam Brownback resigned. He failed to get past the primary in that year's gubernatorial election, then entered the 2022 governor's race but dropped out early after being diagnosed with prostate cancer.