TOPEKA — Intraparty skirmishing among Kansas Democratic gubernatorial candidates Ethan Corson, Cindy Holscher and Curt Skoog intensified as Gov. Laura Kelly pushed a new TV commercial reaffirming her preference of Corson ahead of the August primary election.
Kelly cut the updated endorsement ad for Corson, a state senator from Fairway, to remind voters that he supported expansion of eligibility for Medicaid, embraced abortion rights and wasn’t intimidated by President Donald Trump. Her 30-second spot said Corson had the “strength, judgment and backbone” for the job.
ON FRIDAY, Kelly said she ran for governor to get Kansas back on track, grow the economy and make the state a place people were proud to call home. In 2018 and 2022, Kelly defeated well-known conservative Republicans Kris Kobach and Derek Schmidt in her campaigns for governor. As she prepared to leave government service, she said it was important Kansas elected a new governor in 2026 with vision, skills and fortitude to move the state ahead.
“Ethan Corson possesses those qualities,” Kelly said. “I know he can do the job.”
The Democratic governor said Corson earned her endorsement because he stood the best chance of winning the Aug. 4 primary and mounting a general election campaign attractive to a coalition of Democratic, independent and moderate Republican voters. Those voting blocs were essential for a Democratic candidate to prevail in November, she said.
“I think in Kansas you just have to do that unless you want to bully your way through being governor,” she said in an interview with Kansas Reflector. “If you really want to do what’s in the best interests of the state, generally, a bipartisan approach is the best. Ethan’s made it very clear he’s good at that. I think Republicans will work with him.”
HOLSCHER, a member of the Kansas Senate, said her critics claimed she was “too anti-establishment” because she objected during the gubernatorial campaign to the state’s economic incentive package for construction of a new stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs in Kansas City, Kansas, and tax breaks for rapid expansion of data center facilities in Kansas.
“These aren’t extremist positions, they’re just common sense,” Holscher said. “There’s nothing extremist about standing up for working people or believing our tax dollars should work for us, not be given out to corporations.”
SKOOG, who is mayor of Overland Park, said he entered the Democratic gubernatorial primary in June because it was clear neither Corson nor Holscher excited the electorate. During a campaign visit to Dodge City, Skoog offered a rebuttal to Kelly’s assessment that only Corson could build a successful coalition of moderate voters in a campaign for governor.
“Governor Kelly’s analysis is half right,” Skoog said. “Democrats will not win in November with a candidate from the left wing of the party. But Ethan’s pitch to voters isn’t reaching the plate, and her early endorsement was a swing and a miss.”
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