Democrat Cindy Holscher will be the next governor of Kansas. Her Republican opponent, Senate President Ty Masterson, conceded the race on Thursday, Nov. 12, nine days after the election, in a post on his X account.
"It looks like we will come up just short," Masterson wrote. "I've called Senator Holscher to congratulate her on her election." He thanked "the hundreds of thousands of Kansans" who voted for him and said the issues his campaign ran on "are no less important today than they were yesterday."
Holscher will succeed Gov. Laura Kelly, who endorsed her in August, so Democrats keep the governor's office.
Why the result took nine days
The governor's race was one of six Kansas contests close enough to set off a mandatory recheck. Secretary of State Scott Schwab announced the close-race audits on Nov. 4, the day after the election.
Under state law, an audit kicks in when the unofficial election-night count puts the winning margin at 1% of the total vote or less. County election officials hand count the ballots from 10% of the precincts in each county for that race and compare the totals with what the voting machines reported. The audits come on top of the routine post-election audit that every county runs, and they apply only to federal, statewide and state legislative races.
The races for secretary of state and attorney general, and three Kansas House seats in Districts 27, 40 and 117, were also on the list. Masterson's concession settles the top of the ticket. The vote totals posted so far are still the unofficial count.
Who Holscher and Masterson are
Holscher represents Johnson County's 8th District in the Kansas Senate, where she is the Senate minority whip. Masterson, a Republican from Andover, represents the 16th District in Butler County and is president of the Senate.
In the campaign's final week, Holscher released a closing ad on Oct. 28 blaming Masterson for his role in passing and defending former Gov. Sam Brownback's tax experiment.
