EXCLUSIVE: Irreconcilable differences: Kansas governor’s race offers two incompatible paths forward, says candidate Ty Masterson 

For decades, Kansans have changed the governor’s political party like so many outdated outfits. In fact, the state’s voters haven’t elected a successor of the same party in over 60 years.

But while they seem likely to switch parties again – Republican Ty Masterson is favored in a fresh New York Times/Siena poll to succeed term-limited Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly – the state could look starkly different for doing so this time around.

Indeed, Masterson, president of the Kansas Senate and President Donald Trump’s pick in the primary, says the Sunflower State’s choice has “never been this distinct” during this gubernatorial election.

“Just the general difference in how we see government,” Masterson says of Democrat nominee Sen. Cindy Holscher, in an exclusive interview with Heartlander News (which was unable to obtain a similar interview with Holscher despite repeated attempts).

“She is a big-government socialist – that’s in the record – and I’m small-government, so you’ll see [that] culture of the executive branch under me. We would be pushing for less regulation, lower taxes, more business, and she would be the opposite.”

The differences between the two show up most plainly in the three biggest issues facing the state, he argues: property taxes, literacy and affordability.

The Big Three

“Well, top one is property tax, and that difference is pretty stark because I voted for every property tax relief restraint we put out; and she’s voted against all of them.

“Second big issue is the literacy crisis we’re in; we’re bottom-third now with reading in our school system, and I’m for bringing in reforms and she’s just for throwing more money at it, which hasn’t been the solution.

“Affordability, which is the other big thing nationally. She uses some of the same language about talking about affordability, but she just wants higher taxes and Medicaid expansion and legalized marijuana [as] her solutions, and she’s a big government person. You can’t have that and attack affordability and lower cost for average Kansans. …

“The reason she wants to expand marijuana is because she wants more money into the government because the government is the answer. There’s never been a more stark difference in the two [candidates]. We’ve never had a candidate for governor or any statewide [office], for that matter, that’s been as radically liberal as Cindy Holscher.”

Two other big contrasts

The differences between the Republican and Democrat candidates also show up in abortion and school choice.

“I’ve had a long history with the culture of life,” Masterson, of Andover, says. “That is our opposite right there. I’m a pro-life guy with a long record and she supports abortion clear up until birth – or maybe after birth, I don’t know. She’s got the most extreme view on abortion of any member in the chamber.”

Masterson has the endorsements of Kansans for Life PAC, Kansas Right to Life and National Right to Life.

As for school choice:

“We currently don’t have any type of school choice in Kansas, and we do need it. Our parents need choices.

“Well, kind of – very limited, through a low-income scholarship that’s capped statewide at like $10 million, so that’s about all we got, and that needs to be expanded, particularly for those low-income kids that the only building they can attend is failing. We will bring school choice to Kansas when I’m the governor, and she 100% would stop every bit of it.”

The damage already done

The election is also about undoing some of what Kelly was able to do, Masterson says.

“Well, she definitely prevented our property tax [reductions]; she vetoed those. We weren’t able to override. We had a bill that would stop public tax benefits going to illegal aliens, and she vetoed that. We weren’t able to override that. And then, just in general, she has ballooned the size of the executive branch of government, which just puts long-term costs on us.”

Kansans mostly talk about reining in high property taxes, he says of his campaign travels.

“And then there’s a lot of resistance to the culture wars. Even a lot of Democrats don’t support boys in girls’ sports, men in women’s bathrooms – and Cindy has been a strong supporter of all those things.”

On drugs

Holscher, of Overland Park, was one of just five state senators who voted earlier this year against a ban on kratom and its derivatives – the substances believed to have been involved in last month’s deaths of two Ole Miss students. Instead, Holscher proposed an amendment, which failed, that would’ve legalized medical marijuana in Kansas.

“Yeah, it’s not a surprise,” Masterson says. “I mean, one of her main tenets right now is legalizing marijuana. She even supports full recreational, so she’s definitely pro-drug.”

Moderate Dems ‘wiped out’

Masterson says one reason this election is different is the nature of the Democratic Party writ large.

“I think the average, everyday Democrat probably doesn’t understand how much more radical it is,” he says, “how they’ve wiped [out] every blue dog, yellow dog, whatever dog you want to call it. I mean, any moderate Democrat has been wiped out of the apparatus of the machine, and I don’t know that that’s widely understood.”

A Sept. 18 Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media poll had Masterson ahead of Holscher 51%-44%, while the weekend New York Times/Siena poll has Masterson ahead 49%-44%.

And while the latter poll has Holscher up with independents, the former has Masterson winning that critical category.

“I think it’s because I am more in the middle,” he says. “I have a broader base of support. It’s not just the conservative right. And I’ve got an active working relationship with a lot of people in the middle.

“I think it’s just my history and reputation, the ability to work toward the middle, and I think that’s it. I also have what’s perceived to be a more radical opponent.”

(Image credits: Cindy Holscher/cindyforkansas.com, Ty Masterson/mastersonforgovernor.com