Coming up on KTWU is a 2026 IGI Election Special where I talk with Democratic gubernatorial candidates Ethan Corson and Cindy Holscher.

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This program on KTWU is brought to you by the Carol Jory Foundation.

Hello, and welcome to a 2026 IGI election special.

I'm your host, Bob Beatty.

It's another big election year for Kansas.

They always are, aren't they?

And we'll be with you all the way as we talk to the candidates, help them debate and dive into the important issues that face the state all the way up to Election Day on November 3rd.

For this program, I'm talking to two of the candidates for the Democratic nomination for Kansas governor, State Senator Ethan Corson and State Senator Cindy Holscher, as they both hope to succeed Governor Laura Kelly and win an unprecedented third four year term for the Democratic Party.

So let's meet the two candidates.

I'm Cindy Holsinger.

Also known as Cher's mom.

As your governor, I'm ready to provide bold, aggressive leadership to ensure families can afford to live and work in Kansas.

I'll protect Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid and fight for our farmers and veterans.

I know it will take all of us working together to ensure economic growth benefits you, not just the top 1%.

I'm Cindy Holscher and I ask for your support for governor of Kansas.

Well, we're here with Cindy Holscher, running for governor on the Democratic side of the state of Kansas.

Let's start a bit about who you are.

This is a statewide office.

Obviously, your constituents know you.

And in the legislature.

I love that line from the movie Casablanca, where Rick says to Ilsa, who?

Who are you, really?

What were you before?

What did you do and what did you think?

Now, that's a big question.

We could take an hour with that.

But tell us a bit about your background.

Well, sure.

Perfect.

Well, thank you so much for having me here.

It's wonderful to be here.

An answer to that question.

State Senator Cindy Holscher.

I grew up on a farm.

The granddaughter of tenant farmers, the poorest of the poor.

My dad was a union worker also, had been in the military.

My mom was the school bus driver.

And janitor at the elementary school I attended.

So that essentially is my background, my parents hard work, a good union job and public education was basically our ticket out of poverty.

And that's probably why I advocate so hard for the rights of workers, as well as public education, because it's been such an important part of my life.

My husband and I, we have raised three children in the Johnson County area.

All attended public schools.

My youngest just graduated from high school.

For a time period there, I worked for Sprint and actually designed and implemented budgets larger than the state of Kansas.

Managed people created jobs.

So I brought that background with me to the legislature.

And while my children were in grade school, I was the president of the PTA and saw firsthand the devastation that was being inflicted from the Brownback experiment.

And that is what prompted me to run, to go fix things.

Well, yeah, we've had a number of governors, actually, a vast majority, actually, run from the legislature.

Brownback was a bit of an exceptions, but why now?

Why run now?

Why not?

You know, I would say, okay, in a few years, I'll do it.

Why 2026?

We're at a critical point.

And really kind of in a bit of a crisis here, similar to what we saw almost a decade ago.

We had, you know, Brownback very much an extremist in terms of what he was doing to our state.

We are now overloaded with extremist in the legislature.

If one of those extremist candidates ends up in the governor's office, we are in big trouble because then, you know, extremists would have pretty much total control over the state government.

And here's the fact of the matter.

I'm the only candidate in this race, in the Democratic primary that has successfully ran and won in red districts.

The only one who's been able to get a multitude of bills passed and has been told I'm the most the most successful Democrat in terms of getting my own bills passed.

So it appears I'm probably the only person out there that standing between an extremist taking over the highest office in our state, and turning it into something similar to what we're seeing on the federal level.

So, like I said, I'm the person with that track record of winning in red areas and the track record of getting bills implemented that are good for our people.

That's interesting.

So your state legislative district is more Republican.

The Democrat used to calling it red.

Yeah.

So when you first ran or even reelection, you know, you have to calculate, hey, I've got Republicans here.

How did you do that?

Oh, yeah.

It is part of the numbers.

You're absolutely right.

And honestly, when I first thought about running, party insiders told me I wasn't connected to the right people, that I shouldn't run.

But the people in my neighborhood, the teachers, the health care workers, they all told me I should.

So I ended up running.

And not only did I win, but I won every single precinct in that red district and Senate.

Three term incumbent on her way.

And you're right, it comes down to numbers.

But I think it also comes down to life experience in terms of, again, I came from a farm, a union family and a military family.

That's a lot of points of commonality with regular people out there.

And I know what it's like to struggle, and I know what the needs are of people.

And I'm always obviously willing to listen to the people in terms of what we need to do to make life better and more affordable to them.

So.

So yeah, I've had four elections where, I haven't had to just get Democrats on board.

I've had to actively get independents as well as Republicans on board.

So like I said, that is the skill set that I bring to this race.

Yeah, that's really fascinating because we know in some Democratic states, and also however, in Kansas, on the national level, people were striving to redistrict and essentially make it so lopsided for one party that your kind of candidacy probably wouldn't work, no matter how hard you tried.

So a lot of Democrats, you know, they'll be looking at this primary and saying, yes, we want to pick the right person, but we want to make sure that we want them to be able to win a general.

So specifically, you know, a lot of time we you know, we don't have a lot of time expand upon that.

I mean, you know, only 30, 20, 20% of Kansans are registered Democrats.

How would you win a general if the Democrats nominated you?

Yeah, certainly.

You know, I've already been out there doing over 70 town halls across the state, listening to people and working to implement those ideas.

And that's what I've always done.

And that's probably part of the reason why I've been able to, get as many bills passed as I have.

And that experience of, again, growing up on a farm and that background has helped me with my peers and being able to have those commonality factors to get, you know, to get more people on board with me.

And ultimately, my focus isn't on the culture wars and the things that often the Republican Party is focusing on.

I'm focusing on what's important to the people.

Cost of living, finding affordable housing, health care and child care and and ensuring we have strong schools.

That's always where my focus has been.

Well, yeah, I think we probably all can agree, that here in Kansas, we want our leaders to help us leave, lead a good, happy, fulfilling, free life.

But we know there's the cultural issues.

The issues are social issues.

They're economic issues.

They pop up every session.

And so you can't totally ignore the cultural issues because they're so prominent in Kansas, but they pop up in a Democratic state in a different form.

How do you navigate as a statewide candidate the relative importance, and what do you want to keep stressing without ignoring one or the other types of issues of this social, economic and cultural?

Yeah, certainly.

You know, there are issues out there that we have to deal with.

But the fact of the matter is, you know, the bulk of our time on the state level is supposed to be devoted to funding our schools, our roads and highways, and ensuring that people have access to health care.

And ultimately, like I said, that is where the bulk of our time is supposed to be spent.

And honestly, that's what matters most to the people.

At the end of the day, people just want to be able to get by and be able to pay their bills, afford rent.

So yeah, I mean, we have to address some of those social issues at time.

But interestingly, it typically has been the other side of the aisle bringing forward all of those bills and those issues.

You know what?

I start to think back over just the session itself.

I mean, you know, we were in the eighth or ninth week before we saw, I believe, any bills relative to housing affordability.

And there were very few on those issues.

And honestly, that's what the people want and need.

They need focus on those issues, those real life day to day issues that impact how they live.

Yeah.

I got a call a few days ago from a national reporter.

So I went to saying, I want to talk about the Kansas race, what the Democratic side, what issues are they going to be stressing us?

I don't know, but I'll be talking to the candidates.

So is is that we've been hearing a lot about affordability, but what is it?

Is that the issue that you really think's going to resonate?

In Kansas and nationally, we know there's a lot of talk about that.

And if so, what is it?

Is it taxes?

Is it housing or is it sort of a combination of different things or things that we haven't even thought of?

Yeah, it's probably a combination.

I hear about property taxes a lot.

And that is a huge issue.

And honestly, the best thing we can do on the legislative level to address that is fully fund education in terms of general ed and special ed and the legislature has not been fulfilling its obligation there.

And guess what, then that makes the property taxes go up because the local level has to fill in that gap.

So so yeah, property taxes are a big part of the issue.

People in Kansas want to make sure our schools are funded.

It's part of the reason people come here.

But in some of our rural areas, some of our districts are the biggest employer in some of our counties.

So that's, you know, that's very much the lifeline in some of those areas.

And so that's part of the affordability structure, too, in terms of access to education.

But yeah, the other thing I hear about a lot, too, is access to affordable health care.

Are people across the state are hurting in terms of, you know, lack of doctors, lack of access and just that affordability piece in terms of how expensive it can be just to get treatment.

And of course, Kansas is one of the few states that hasn't expanded Medicaid and that is having a terrible impact on our people and access.

Are you beginning to think about, newer issues like AI use?

It's getting kind of strange.

Or the president currently is telling states, hey, don't do this with don't actually pass legislation with AI.

This happened with Florida.

Very briefly, but is that something that's on your radar?

You know, it's interesting you mention that because it is on my radar.

But I will tell you that new issue that's coming up more and more, every summer after session, I always do a number of town halls across the state.

This past year, the newer issue that was coming up kind of tied to data centers, water and ice.

Okay, I do new with air quotes because it really isn't a new issue, but much more on people's minds.

And I think partly because of AI data centers and the tie in to how much water is used, that has people talking a lot more on the issue of, you know, impending depletion of the Ogallala, amount of usage and summertime.

So I think, like I said, that all ties in.

And, by all means, I'm looking very closely at that information, making sure that we aren't making rash decisions.

In terms of, you know, what's going to affect water usage and utility rates.

And I think I'm getting a sense as the campaigns move along, all the campaigns from the people that, I think a lot of people are interested in a governor that will defend the state against sort of these outside forces.

Got about 45 seconds.

Would you know, a lot of people, don't know you.

So as we finish the interview, what would you like them to, see in their their first impression of of seeing you on television?

Yeah.

You know, I think it comes down to this, I'm known as a person who's going to show up for the people, fight for the people, and fight again for the people.

Not the special interest groups, not the political insiders.

And I have a history of doing that.

The past ten years I've been in the legislature, that's been my focus.

Making life more affordable, making life better for Kansans.

And like I said, showing up for people.

To me, that's what it's about.

And, you know, as you talk about this race in this campaign, again, electability is important.

Gotta win the race.

And you got to be able to deliver.

I'm the only one in this race that wins in red districts, the only one that's been able to deliver in terms of bills.

I've introduced getting them to the finish line.

So like I said, got to win the race and you gotta deliver.

Well, thank you so much for joining us.

Next up is state Senator Ethan Corson.

I'm running for governor of Kansas.

Let me tell you why.

First, Governor Kelly deserves enormous credit for getting our state back on track.

But we've got new challenges, and I'm ready to meet them so we can create more opportunities for the next generation of Kansans so they can build a life here.

That means having the best public schools in America and making Kansas the most affordable place to live.

I'll continue to cut taxes on everyday Kansans putting more money back in your pocket.

I'm with Ethan Corson.

I have to start most announcement videos are these, you know, dramatic.

Walking through the cornfields or, you know, whatever.

I kind of like that one.

Is that something you said?

Hey, let's let's just keep it real.

You know, we wanted to do something authentic, and we wanted to involve the family.

Although, I will say in watching that again, I don't think I realized how much background noise there was from our youngest, our two and a half year old Aiden's.

Well, that makes it authentic.

Yeah.

It is.

That was a morning in the life, at our house.

That's right.

Okay, well, let's get started here.

You're a state senator, and, I'm a big fan of the movie Casablanca.

Rick says to Ilsa.

Who are you?

Really?

What were you before, and what did you do?

And what did you think?

So we only have a few minutes.

You don't want to spend it all in one question, but you're a state senator.

But you're running for statewide office.

People that don't know you, what do they need to know?

Yeah.

In terms of your background and where you grew up and all that, sort of.

So, I'm a lifelong Kansan product of Kansas public schools.

From my first day, pre-kindergarten till I graduated from Garden City Community College.

If you would have met me as a kid, the last thing you would have thought was that I'd be running for governor someday.

I was incredibly passionate about baseball that took me to Garden City Community College on a baseball scholarship.

I was a mediocre, left handed middle relief pitcher.

After that, I finished college and law school, worked at the U.S.

Department of Commerce in several different economic development and international trade positions.

But my wife and I, my wife, Jen and I, we came back to Kansas, to raise our family.

And after our first son, Isaac, was born in 2019, I looked around at what was going on in the state legislature.

I thought there was just so much focus on these culture war issues that affect so few people.

Not enough focus on the kind of kitchen table issues that so many Kansas families like mine.

We're talking about public schools, cost of childcare, trying to buy your first home, things like that.

Ran for the Kansas Senate in 2020, became the first Democrat ever elected for my district, and have been serving in the state Senate, since that time, reelected in 2024 with almost 65% of the vote.

And I have been in the Kansas Senate a leader on this kitchen table issues, serving as a member of the Senate Tax Committee, working with both parties to eliminate the state sales tax on groceries, to eliminate the state income tax on Social Security, and try to make Kansas a more affordable place for everybody in our state.

Now, you're relatively young, at least younger than me.

So why now?

Why run for governor in 2026 versus, you know, plotting out, you know, some other time?

Well, look, I think Kansas is at a real inflection point.

And I think that the results of this governor's election are going to shape the future of our state.

For decades to come.

We have made tremendous progress under Governor Kelly's leadership.

That's one of the reasons I'm honored to have her endorsement in this race.

But we still have a lot of work to do on, making Kansas the most affordable state in the country to live.

Making Kansas, making Kansas a place where we're growing more jobs, all across our state, making Kansas home to the very best public schools and making health care more affordable and accessible.

And so I think it's a real clear choice in this race, whether we want to continue, on that path, of moving the state forward or whether we want to go back to the kind of chaos and extremism that we saw under Governor Brownback and Governor Colyer.

And look, I look at this really not through the eyes of a politician, but I really look at it through the eyes of a young parent.

Our boys are six and two and a half, and, I got into this race because I want to make sure that we are creating a Kansas, where they will want to stay and where someday they'll want to build their life here.

Just like my wife and I decided to do.

Now, I think most almost all Kansans would agree, what we want from our government, our leaders, is to help us, live a good, happy, fulfilling, free life.

But we have cultural issues.

We have some social issues.

We have rights issues.

We have economic issues.

You mentioned some of the cultural issues, and yet they're real to to both pro and con to some people.

How do you how do you sort out what's going to be important, even if it is economic, but you still have those cultural issues because you've talked about those and we know they're nationally even very well known in Kansas.

Yeah.

Well, my priorities could not be more clear.

I've been laser focused on kitchen table issues from the day I got into the Kansas Senate.

That is exactly what I'm going to be focused on as governor.

I want to make Kansas the most affordable state in the country, to have the middle class quality of life.

I want to make us home to the very best public schools in the country.

I want to, bring more jobs and businesses to every community across the state.

And I want to make sure every Kansan can see a doctor when they need to without a break in the bank.

And that's what I'm going to wake up every single day as governor focused on those things.

How do we improve access to childcare?

How do we make childcare more affordable?

How do we make it easier for a young couple to buy their first home?

Those are the things that really animate me.

That's really what this campaign is about, ultimately, is about building a better future for the next generation of Kansans.

So they will want to call Kansas home.

And that's what I'm going to be focused on as governor.

And of course, here in the legislature, the reality, is even if there's not a supermajority, there's a the Republicans have a majority.

And we've seen this is not putting it down.

It's just a fact that they often start their sessions or spend a lot of part of the session on these cultural issues.

And then often weeks later, maybe even deep into the session, say, now we're going to look at property taxes or affordability.

If you're governor, how do you get around that?

Or how are you going to deal with that?

Yeah.

Look, I think I'll come into office with a real mandate because we have been working all around the state since we got into this race in July.

We've driven over 17,000 miles across the state in my Ford Edge.

We've been to over 47 cities, 37 counties.

We've had hundreds of meetings with Kansans.

And I will tell you that Kansans are not focused on those culture war issues.

Kansans are focused on the issues that I identified.

We need more housing.

We need more affordable childcare.

We want to make sure that we have a strong school funding formula.

We want to make sure that we are more affordable as a state, and we want to make sure that you don't feel like you need to leave Kansas to find economic opportunity.

That's what Kansans in every corner of the state have shared with me.

Whether you're in Brown County, Montgomery County, Lewis, or anywhere else.

And so I think I'm going to arrive into office with, the support of those Kansans because they, again, when I met with him, have been crystal clear on what they want my priorities to be, what they want the legislature's priorities to be.

And that's what I'm going to wake up every day thinking about how I can deliver on those to make our state even stronger, to build on the progress that we have made in the last eight years.

And of course, do you have a Democratic primary before you could get to the general election?

Some Democrats, you know, are going to be weighing issues and all these other things.

But one of the things that the Democrats or anyone in any party will think about is, can this candidate win a general election?

So that's what they might be asking you, even when you're doing these town halls.

So to those who say that, what do you say?

Yeah, I'd say we are building a campaign that is ready to compete everywhere.

You know, I'm the first Democrat ever elected from my state senate district.

I'm the only Democrat in this race with actual lived experience in western Kansas.

As I mentioned, I went to Garden City Community College.

Have a lot of deep relationships in that part of the state.

Got my associates degree there, traveled all around the state.

Playing baseball here is probably not a town, large or small, that I haven't played baseball in.

At some point.

I'm the only candidate in either party that's been endorsed by organized labor.

I'm honored that I've been endorsed by both Governor Laura Kelly and Governor Kathleen Sebelius.

Between the two of them, they have won six statewide elections.

They know that I'm the only Democrat who can win a statewide race.

You know, we have not had a governor who's had a real connection to western Kansas like I have since Governor Hayden.

I think that's going to be very powerful.

And so, again, I think, the endorsements of, Planned Parenthood and Citizens United, Governor Kelly, Governor Sebelius, they show both what the stakes of this race are and that these folks feel that I'm the only Democrat who can win a statewide race.

Yeah, there's a lot of issues property taxes, housing, medical care, they're very important.

And of course, they'll be central.

But I'm getting a sense there's sort of a angst about, these difficult existential type of issues like AI data centers that are going to suck up, maybe all the energy and water.

We don't have a lot of time, but we're almost and we're getting from Washington right now even told Florida, hey, don't do anything about AI this clash.

Are these issues popping up or are they at least on your radar, coming down the road?

Yeah.

I think one of the reasons, that I'm well-suited to be the next governor is that I have a real lived experience with so many of these issues.

You know, when I first ran for the Kansas Senate, the average age was almost 70.

And so I think that you just approach issues differently when you're raising young kids.

The topic of AI technology in schools, how we're using that, those things are very real to my wife and I. They're not just things that I need to read.

A white paper about, or read a study about, you know, we're living with it.

We're grappling with that, thinking about what is the kind of work that's going to be available to our two boys by the time, they're ready to join the workforce with AI and things of that nature.

So I think we need to have somebody who really has their finger on the pulse of, the anxiety, as you mentioned, the anxiety and the angst that so many young families are feeling.

I mean, you know, the cost of childcare is a good example.

I mean, we've been, writing to check every single month for the last six years to try to afford childcare.

Every single month, my wife and I, we make two car payments, we make our mortgage payment.

We're both still trying to pay off our student loans.

Didn't buy our first house till I was in my, my mid 30s.

All of which are really common.

Challenges that so many Kansas families are facing.

But you look at, oftentimes that is not represented in our leadership.

And I think it's important to have a governor that understands the modern challenges that Kansas families are facing today, which are completely different than what they were facing 20 or 30 years ago.

Yeah.

Usually I say, you have 30s left, but your answer was really interesting.

So I, I want to I let you finish it.

I want to thank you for joining us, and maybe we'll see you out on the campaign trail.

I'd love to.

Thank you so much for having me.

Thank you for the opportunity.

Yeah, thanks.

Thanks.

You've been watching an IGI 2026 Election Special.

An inside look at the Kansas gubernatorial candidates.

Keep your eye out for our continued programing on this important election year for Kansas.

If you have any comments for us, please send us an email at issues@ktwu.org.

If you would like to view this program again or any previous episodes of IGI, visit us online at watch.ktwu.org.

For IGI, I'm Bob Beatty.

Thanks for watching.

Thanks for watching.

This program on KTWU is brought to you by the Carol Jory Foundation.