Kansas Governor 2026
A sourced guide to the Kansas governor race between Cindy Holscher and Ty Masterson: every public poll, the ratings and where official results will appear. This is not an endorsement.
Our Final CallMasterson Flips ItRead why →The Kansas governor race: history, data and the final week
Property taxes and school funding have been the main fault line: Masterson proposes a constitutional cap of 3% or less on annual property valuation growth, while Holscher backs lowering the residential assessment rate and fully funding special education (KCUR, Oct 14). Masterson has called Holscher "extreme" and toned down his pro-Trump primary messaging, while Holscher has attacked his 2010 personal bankruptcy tied to a failed business (KCUR). A Democratic ad linking Masterson to former Gov. Sam Brownback drew a response from Masterson calling it a lie (HPPR, Oct 2). Cook moved the race to Toss-up on Oct 27, citing its volatility (Newsweek).
How this state voted before
Historic vote shares describe previous electorates, not a projection of the 2026 outcome.
Meet the candidates
Cindy Holscher
Kansas state senator from Overland Park since 2021, after four years in the Kansas House; she spent most of her career at Sprint and holds journalism and political science degrees from the University of Missouri. She won the Aug 4 Democratic primary with about 48.8% (110,407 votes) over state Sen. Ethan Corson; her running mate is KC Ohaebosim.
Ty Masterson
President of the Kansas Senate since 2021, from Andover; he served in the Kansas House from 2005 to 2009 and in the state Senate since, and previously worked as a contractor who owned Masterbuilt homes. Endorsed by Donald Trump, he won the seven-way Aug 4 Republican primary with about 43.2% (148,685 votes); his running mate is state Sen. Jeff Klemp.
Ratings and money
Cook moved it from Lean R to Toss-Up on Oct. 27. Earlier: Cook Political Report moved the race from Lean R to Toss-up on Oct 27, 2026 (Newsweek, Oct 28). Sabato's Crystal Ball and Pluribus News were listed at Lean R on MultiState's tracker (updated Oct 28, but that tracker still showed Cook at Lean R, so it may lag); current Sabato and Inside Elections ratings could not be confirmed.
MultiState's Oct 28 tracker reported Masterson had about $360,000 more cash on hand than Holscher in the latest filings and that his campaign ran a seven-figure ad buy (citing the Washington Examiner).
Race timeline
Primaries: Masterson wins GOP nod with 43.2%, Holscher wins Democratic nod with 48.8%
Kansas State Fair debate (reported as likely their only debate)
Masterson declines two televised debates (Lawrence Times)
Advance in-person voting begins statewide
Cook Political Report moves race to Toss-up
Election Day
Polls and polling average
Every public poll of Cindy Holscher vs. Ty Masterson we have tracked since Aug 16: 11 in all, 7 of them from independent pollsters that count toward the average. Updated October 31, 2026. Tap a dot for the poll’s details and source; switch to Margin for the clearest read on a phone. This is published polling, not a forecast.
Loading the interactive poll tracker… Every public poll we track for this race, newest first:
| Fielded | Pollster / source | Sample | Holscher (D) | Masterson (R) | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 26–Oct 28 | Emerson College | 800 LV | 46 | 50 | R+4 |
| Oct 20–Oct 26 | CNN / SSRS | 838 LV | 45 | 50 | R+5 |
| Oct 22–Oct 26 | Washington Post / George Mason | 801 LV | 51 | 45 | D+6 |
| Oct 20–Oct 23 | RedBox Research Partisan | 1,301 LV | 45.6 | 48 | R+2.4 |
| Oct 18–Oct 21 | Global Strategy Group Partisan | 600 LV | 47 | 47 | Tie |
| Sep 24–Oct 4 | YouGov | 2,255 LV | 44 | 47 | R+3 |
| Sep 22–Sep 30 | New York Times / Siena | 605 LV | 44 | 49 | R+5 |
| Sep 13–Sep 16 | Global Strategy Group Partisan | 800 LV | 49 | 46 | D+3 |
| Sep 15–Sep 16 | Emerson College | 750 LV | 44 | 51 | R+7 |
| Sep 8–Sep 10 | co/efficient | 915 LV | 43 | 51 | R+8 |
| Aug 13–Aug 16 | Global Strategy Group Partisan | 600 LV | 47 | 46 | D+1 |
Source notebook
Selected sources for this page; every poll has its own source link in the table above. Reviewed 2026-10-31.
Corrections welcome: corrections@electiontracker.live. Independent coverage; no endorsement.
What to watch on November 3
Most Kansas polls close at 7 p.m. local time, which is 8 p.m. ET in the Central-time part of the state and 9 p.m. ET in the four Mountain-time western counties. Johnson County, Holscher's home base, had almost 90,000 early votes by Oct 27 versus almost 56,000 in 2022 (KCUR).
Reading a race call: preliminary totals are unofficial. Media projections must name the projecting outlet; certification comes from authorized election officials.