FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 9, 2026
Contact:
Hans Torgerson,
[email protected]

LOWLIGHTS: KANSAS GOP GOVERNOR'S DEBATE 

A Race to the Bottom at Johnson County Community College

TOPEKA — On Friday night, Kansans got a front row seat to the mess that has become the GOP primary for governor. Instead of common sense solutions for working families, Kansans heard an hour of name-calling, broken promises, and competition to see who could be the most extreme.

Here are the lowlights:

TY MASTERSON CALLED PHILIP SARNECKI AN "ANGRY ELF"

• Masterson spent the night calling Sarnecki "a Democrat plant," "an angry elf," and "all hat, no cattle."

• Sarnecki fired back just as hard. For an hour, two men who want to run Kansas couldn't stop fighting each other long enough to say anything about Kansas.

THE CROWD LAUGHS AT MASTERSON

• Masterson is Trump-endorsed, and he wants you to know it — he said so at least seven times.

• By the seventh mention, even the Republican crowd in the room was laughing at him.

SARNECKI SAID HE WAS OFFERED THE LT. GOV. SLOT — AND SAID NO

• Before the debate, Masterson's campaign tried to bribe Sarnecki out of the race with an offer of the lieutenant governorship.

• Sarnecki said no — and told the whole audience about it. The crowd applauded.

THREE CANDIDATES DIDN'T EVEN SHOW UP

• Vicki Schmidt refused to pay the debate entry fee, calling it a party-sponsored scheme to "pick winners and losers." 

• Stacy Rogers and Nick Reinecker were also absent from the debate

The bottom line: While Kansas families deal with rising costs, an affordability crisis, and a broken property tax system, Republicans spent an hour fighting each other, insulting each other, and competing to see who could be most extreme. Kansans deserved real leadership and they got a circus.

 

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