State Sen. Cindy Holscher won the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Kansas on Tuesday, a resounding defeat for establishment Democrats as they seek to hold onto the governor’s mansion.
Holscher defeated state Sen. Ethan Corson, who earned the endorsements of influential Kansas Democrats, including twice elected, term-limited Gov. Laura Kelly, and amassed a sizable war chest.
Holscher now heads into what’s expected to be a tough general election fight. She faces Republican Ty Masterson — the state Senate president endorsed by President Donald Trump — who easily clinched the GOP nomination in a crowded field.
Republicans are eyeing the Kansas governor’s race as a top pickup opportunity in a state Trump won three times — and they’re preparing to spend substantial sums to capture the governor’s mansion after eight years under Kelly.
Both Holscher and Corson are moderates, but Holscher embraced economic populism and called for a moratorium on data center development. That issue became a defining line in the primary, with Corson staking out a more middle-of-the-road approach that welcomed data centers, so long as they were approved by local communities and with regulations on water usage and tax burdens.
Read the full article here