Coming up on KTWU is a 2026 IGI Election Special, where our all star panel dives into the campaigns for Kansas governor for the August 4th primary.

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

[MUSIC] I grew up in Hays, Kansas.

Are selected on merit Trump endorsed Ty Masterson Because the fight's aren't over Refunds for unfair assessments.

Fighting to be your next governor Kansans voting for our Supreme Court judges.

My opponents are going to try to make this campaign about a lot of things.

Care more about criminals feelings than victims rights.

Well, have you had enough of the TV ads?

Hello, and welcome to a 2026 IGI election special.

I'm your host, Bob Beatty.

Well,if you watch the soccer World Cup that came to Kansas City and the rest of the world this summer, you saw some wonderful athletes, passionate fans, and hundreds of fake injuries.

You also saw campaign ads.

That's because even in our wonderful digital age, TV ads are still a primary way to reach voters.

So we've brought in our all-star panel of Kansas political experts Tim Carpenter from The Kansas Reflector, Rebekah Chung from KSNT news, and Bill Fiander from Washburn University to focus their keen eyes on the TV ads from Kansas 2026 candidates who are spending millions to reach voters before the August 4th primary.

Will they throw some red cards at some of these ads?

Probably.

But the goal is to help dissect what is behind the messaging and what could determine who gets off the pitch and hoist the cup on August 4th versus who is messing it up.

Too many World Cup references, I know.

So let's get to the show and our panel.

Well, thank you so much for joining me here in the dog days of summer.

But that is Kansas, right?

August 4th is the primary.

So let's get right into it.

What we're going to do.

So we're going to talk about, the governor race primarily through the lens of their TV ads or in the case of Cindy, Holscher, a tick tock.

So let's start right off with a candidate who is no longer with us.

He's he's just not in the race.

He's still with us.

But that's Jeff Coyler former governor who dropped out of the race.

But before he did, he ran a TV ad.

So let's take a look at that and we'll talk about it.

I grew up in Hays, Kansas.

We stood for the flag and we knelt for the cross.

I've lived my life for my family that flag and that cross.

I worked for President Reagan and President Trump fighting the good conservative fight.

A man of incredible integrity in class.

Your governor, Jeff Colyer, you have one hell of a governor.

So Jeff Coyler runs, after he takes over as governor and loses one of the closest races to Kris Kobach in American history in terms of, governor running again.

And then he runs again, four years later, but drops out to help for health reasons.

And then he's running, this year and drops out again when he does not get Donald Trump's endorsement.

So what's what's going on?

Thoughts on on Jeff Colyer who, who now is for many, several reasons, not won in 3 different gubernatorial races.

Well, just going off the ad, Bob, I think what we see here is really a sharp contrast between some of the other ads that we're seeing in this race, right?

He's talking about his faith, service experience, patriotism, and we're seeing more of these ads gear more toward like less bio and more culture war, I think.

Yeah.

So it's sort of shows that contrast for me, when we are looking at Jeff Coyler.

Yeah, that was an introductory ad for Coyler.

He was trying to reintroduce himself to people.

I do think that after two false starts in the governor's race, his gubernatorial political career is over.

I just don't see him running.

The big question for him is what's next for Jeff Colyer.

So you want to be a Trump ambassador?

He wants to have some big fat cat job in D.C.

Well, you know, I have no inside information, but, you know, the sort of, political, cynic would say there was some possible deal done here because Masterson got the, the endorsement, and I would assume the Trump people might have said, hey, we don't want you splitting that vote.

We'll see on that.

What's interesting, I thought, was he's trying to sort of have it both ways.

He says he's got Ronald Reagan in there.

Reagan, you know, president in the 80s.

Reagan, a very, cordial man, very in many ways kind of humble.

He he'd say, well, I don't know about that.

And the biggest contrast you could have is Donald Trump.

And for good and ill, Donald Trump is quite bombastic, but he tries to split the difference in this ad.

I like, I think maybe this is what you're summing up here, what this phrase sums up the good conservative fight.

As opposed to the bad conservative fight?

That maybe we're seeing more and more these days.

I mean, he talked about kneeling.

That was an issue about five years ago.

Six years ago.

He had point.

Yeah.

A little bit or a little bit.

Right.

That well, you know, George Floyd, that era.

Yeah.

You're right.

That was a big deal.

Why are people kneeling so for the for the national anthem.

Correct.

Yeah.

So it almost seems a little anachronistic that he's bringing himself from the, you know, the late teens and early 20s back into the 25, 26 era and maybe that and that might have appeal, but we're not going to find out It quickly says, he's patriotic, religious and loves his family.

That normally would carry... It's a requirement, I think, to be in politics.

So it's interesting that he drops out because of the Trump endorsement.

We don't know why.

It just seemed like this was his third run at governor, as you were alluding to.

And, you know, he he was governor, and I think he really wanted to be governor again.

And there's sort of an aspect of, you know, why not go down fighting?

But maybe there was other aspects.

So let's get to the person who did get Trump's endorsement.

Ty Masterson, we'll take a look at his, TV ad.

MAGA alert.!

President Donald Trump has given Ty Masterson his complete and total endorsement for Kansas governor.

Trump says Ty Masterson will champion Kansas values and cut your taxes.

Trump endorsed Ty Masterson for governor.

Now, I again don't have inside information.

I'll keep saying that people think why we listen to this guy.

But, you know, maybe it's better not to.

Trump endorses Ty Masterson.

That ad obviously still pictures.

You know, let's throw this thing out 15 seconds.

Make sure everyone knows, that he endorsed Masterson.

Why do we think that Trump endorsed Masterson?

In 2018 waited till the literally almost the last second to endorse.

Trump often likes to the deciding factor in a race.

And the reason is because if Masterson doesn't win, Trump, you know, gets embarrassed.

And yet here he jumps in really early.

The statement from the Trump people indicated that Masterson was leading in terms of policy issues in ways that Trump liked.

And so he was sort of endorsed, through his work in the Kansas Senate.

Ty Masterson, the Trump, effort to change America.

And, I think, I think the reason the he threw this ad out there with, still photos and just quickly done was because there is a belief that the Trump endorsement in the Republican gubernatorial primary is the winner, that the person with that endorsement will win the primary.

Who believes that?

I think I, I think Ty Masterson believes it.

Okay.

And and it's it stands to reason that Jeff Colyer would believe it too.

The Trump endorsement in other races has been very helpful.

And and I'd say I'm just guessing 70 plus percent is the winner.

But not every race.

Not every race.

The president is trying to help people sort them out.

And he's telling Kansas voters, Republicans who to vote for.

You know, he's definitely flaunting the Trump endorsement.

We saw it in the debate, the second debate where he was repeatedly saying Trump endorsed me, right.

I think he's definitely targeting those stronger conservatives, people that lean a little bit more conservative.

However, I think there is a risk with this because in the general election, I think voters are going to want less fights, a conservative fighter and more solutions.

Can he reach a solution, with a compromise on some of these policies or legislation if he leads?

Yeah.

The ad was obviously, absent of any policy, any any issues.

It was it was just vote for me by association and and at least with Trump, I mean, people can read into that a lot.

And so the trick is, is you still have the golden touch that he's had in most of the primaries?

We'll see.

But yes, I think in the primary you're trying to be more conservative on the Republican side.

You can't.

Well, actually, you can be, we'll see another ad, maybe later.

But, this is this is as high of a of a place you can go, on that point now.

Yeah.

To me, it would be interesting to see if his messaging actually changes.

If he makes it out of the primary, does he lean a bit more moderate?

Yeah.

Because, Trump actually loses the third district.

You know, where Sharice Davids is up in, the Overland Park, that area.

Hillary Clinton won that, third district.

Joe Biden, Kamala Harris actually won it.

So yeah, there are pockets in Kansas where Trump is not that popular.

But this is a primary and Bill, there are issues in that ad.

He said, he would protect Kansas values and cut taxes.

So.

Oh, that I did I did have that.

I did have the very specific things.

Are you okay okay.

Yes.

Yes.

The values and taxes.

Yeah.

So let's move on to, a new candidate for Kansas.

And I have to there's going to be some viewers, for this program who haven't seen this ad and, so be warned, it, it's a lot as, the kids say, if you haven't seen it before, it's it's, judge for yourselves and then we'll talk about it.

Here's Philip Sarnecki running for Kansas governor.

America is in trouble.

Our schools, universities, Hollywood, the media.

They indoctrinate our kids saying America is a bad and racist country.

They want open borders, and they care more about criminals feelings than victims rights.

They say men can have babies and they let men dominate women's sports.

It's a pack of lies from people who hate our values and mock our faith.

I'm Philip Sarnecki.

When I'm governor, Kansas will stand for the truth.

So it's the Republican primary.

We're clear about that.

Philip Sarnecki is, running in the Republican primary for governor.

It's his third ad as of this, this show.

There's a lot going on in there.

And I'll have to point out our all-star panel here, including the host, and including, many Republican and Democratic legislators, either full time or part time work at universities, have some of them have done various media work or radio shows or anything.

So, he's naming a lot of indoctrinators here.

I think it was, Hollywood.

But then universities, teachers, who else?

Media.

The media, you know, all of them All of them hate American values.

All of them... Two full time journalists here on the panel and indoctrination.

And we're experts in indoctrination.

But but also also these, allegedly.

And also these politicians tell people don't pay any attention to us.

So we're experts in indoctrination, don't you think we'd clever enough to get around their denunciaiton?

I don't know, I think it's just a lot of, electrifying commentary that's just red meat for a primary voter.

And he has multiple ads Oh, yeah, it's a machine.

And, Rebekah.

Look at Rebekah Chung She's part of this indoctrination machine.

No comment.

But I will say that, you know Sarnecki, he is a complete outsider.

He's a businessman.

And really, I think his goal here is to stand out.

And that's what he's kind of doing with.

Yeah.

We're really.

Yeah.

With his ad, for sure.

I mean, it's very dramatic.

He does talk about indoctrination, culture war issues.

And I think that's what the campaign is counting on, whether you like it or not.

You see me?

I'm memorable.

It's it's going to stick.

You know, I remember, I don't have the specifics, but in the second district congressional race, we had a candidate a few years ago who basically was alluding to cows and cow manure.

You may remember that one.

And he did not win.

Derek Schmidt won that race.

But I, I think your point is a good one.

Certainly it's a memorable ad, but it's... Okay.

So, perhaps he can't get traction in this primary unless he appeals to the most conservative element of the Republican Party.

And this is what this does.

This is some of this stuff is what, the most conservative members of the party would believe.

Am I out of line to say that this does seem a little over the top?

I mean, I haven't heard of this, but it's not men adopting children.

It sounds like he's saying men physically having babies.

Oh, you're you're suggesting he's exaggerating?

I might be suggesting.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, I see what you mean.

Okay.

Men having babies.

But that's the goal, right?

He wants people to talk about it, and that's what we're doing.

Okay.

What happened to the fun, scrappy, pro-business guy bursting out of the, the first.

His first?

If you saw his first ad, it was.

It was a career politician.

Yeah.

I'm.

I'm pro-business and I'm new and don't listen to.

I'm an outsider.

No, listen.

Those insiders, this has gone up to a place.

This is what happens when you don't get Trump's endorsement I guess.

You've got to go darker.

And this is.

This is pretty.

This is goes pretty dark.

And it goes into appeals to the worst of of us.

Sarnecki's superpac has released, a vicious attack ad on Ty Masterson, by the way.

So I always hate to say this, Bill, but that's a that's a good point.

Hate, to acknowledge that.

But no, let me just throw this out there by going so dark and exaggerating and, you know, there's no citations in this ad.

That's why I say, what's this based on?

Is he now he's become sort of a type of politician.

He's no longer the just sort of interesting outsider, a breath of fresh air.

That's not fresh air.

No, whatever that is, it's not fresh air.

So you're right.

When he hit, when he arrived and got people really sort of buzzing about his campaign.

Okay.

Wow.

Let's take a look at this guy.

You're right though.

The third ad.

Okay.

Boom.

We're going to hit.

Yeah.

If you watch the debate too, there's clearly, clearly something between him and Masterson.

I mean, they they were sniping at each other and, trying to set themselves as the mantle of conservatism.

Sarnecki identified Masterson as his number one opponent.

Yeah.

I mean, and vice versa.

Let's move on to Scott Schwab.

A very different ad.

And Bill, to your benefit.

We get to have some fun now.

Yes, we the dark side was there, but now there's actually a little gleam in this ad.

Let's let's take a look at Scott Schwab's ad.

Property taxes are killing Kansans.

But one day it hit me.

“BALD”, better affordable living by decreasing property taxes.

Bald.

Bald.

Schwab's bald plan.

Voter approval for property tax hikes, refunds for unfair assessments, and tax relief for seniors and working families.

But I'm not bald.

Maybe you should be.

Well, he doesn't have Trump's hair, but he does have a plan for property tax.

Conservative Republican Scott Schwab for governor.

So very different from Philip Sarnecki.

Who wants to dive in.

And Scott Schwab our you know, our secretary I got to give him credit for, offering an amusing an attempt at amusement.

But the the if you're going to crack jokes on the campaign trail, I think property taxes is one area very serious issue which the legislature has failed to address is probably, a bridge too far.

Yeah.

Like, maybe he could have thought of another issue to attack with humor, but I think it's I think it's clever in the sense that, it's such a divergence from the, kind of ads we're going to see over the next two months of this primary.

And I think to Rebekah's point, it's certainly it's the opening ad.

And I from what I've seen and people who've seen it, they certainly notice.

It turns heads.

They notice it as soon as they see it, which is probably the point.

He also says he doesn't have Trump's hair, but you could actually replace Trump's endorsement for hair.

He doesn't have Trump's endorsement.

But here's his great idea about, moderating property taxes in Kansas.

This is one way, I think, for Scott Schwab to stand out in the race.

He's not really hitting that indoctrination, emotional, you know, trying to appeal to people's emotions in that sense.

But in a way, he's trying to get this to be something that grabs and draws attention to his campaign and an issue that he obviously is trying to put at the forefront of the, of the campaign.

So I think it definitely helps with that.

And he's appealing more less to, I think, strong conservatives, but traditional Republicans here in Kansas.

Yeah.

At the end there, he says he puts the word conservative in front of a Republican governor.

I'm I'm the conservative Republican, you know, governor, nominee.

And that, there's nothing conservative, honestly, this property taxes across the aisle here, there's really nothing conservative conservative about this like the previous two.

Property tax is something that Democrats have are taking up.

Some of the Republicans have taken up, they all have failed.

So he is at least, trying trying to solve that.

But he's all in on this issue.

I mean, if you look, there's nothing else.

You even go to his his bald website.

It's all property tax at this point.

So, the self-deprecation and that, that's where I think that's really I love their substance.

This is more substance than we get in most ads list.

And he's and he's got, he's got our eye.

He's got some humor.

poking fun at himself So it shows personality.

And I think that's going to be a marker for him.

Yeah.

Let's move on to Vicky Schmidt, and talk about her campaign.

But first, we'll take a look at her, TV ad.

We're all feeling it.

Inflation is causing the cost of everything to go up.

Groceries, utilities, gas.

As governor, I'll give Kansas some relief.

One, Streamline state government and use the savings to put more money in your pocket Two, Kansas state property tax relief.

So with former Farm Bureau president Joe Newland, I will lower property taxes for Kansas families and seniors.

My opponents are going to try to make this campaign about a lot of things.

For me, it's about protecting your pocketbook.

So some Vicki Schmidt, the insurance commissioner running in the Republican GOP primary, a couple of quick things I'll add.

Then I'll go to the All-Star panel.

One is she has not participated in the debate, saying she didn't want to pay the $10,000 to the party that they required, to do that.

I think that's that's an interesting strategic move.

We can talk about that.

And, I'll throw it to the panel.

When it comes to Vicki Schmidt and her ads, the way she's portraying it, I think she's not as flashy.

She's very practical, and she's still a bit relatable.

But I think because she's not being as loud and flashy, she may disappear in this sort of primary where you have so many other candidates.

Yeah, there's no mention of Trump even in the Schwab ad.

At least they got the word Trump in.

No mention of Trump.

But to Rebekah's point, she's she's pumping her gas.

She's buying her groceries.

She's out there being very relatable.

It's and ends it by saying there's it's going to be they're going to want to make it about something else.

She doesn't say what that something else.

But I think from the previous ads we can see what the else is.

She just wants to make it about a the pocketbook, which I'll last comment here.

Do we you still use that term pocketbook.

We do.

It's in an ad.

But I'm not sure my kids use it or anybody, 40 years younger than me.

Sometimes people bury the lead in these ads.

And I think the line about my, my opponents and critics are going to want to try to make this campaign about something else.

And what she's talking about is not cost of living issues.

What she's talking about is abortion rights.

And, the attack ad that is out there, a reportedly $2 million buy to complain about her 2008 Senate votes on, providing immigrant students in-state tuition at universities and community colleges.

Let's, let's actually watch for the Democratic side, Ethan Carson's ad.

And then we're also going to watch, Curt Skoog's ad if we can, back to back, and then we'll start talking about the Dems.

I never dreamed of running for governor.

I wanted to pitch for the Royals.

I'm Ethan Corson.

I never made it to the big leagues.

But I did make it to the state Senate, where I fought for Medicaid expansion and defended abortion rights.

I'm running for governor because the fights aren't over.

I'll stand up to Trump, Ice or anyone who comes for our freedoms for our state.

I'm Ethan Corson, and if you give me the chance to serve, I'll fight for Kansas every single day.

Ethan Corson, Democrat for governor.

Hi, I'm Mayor Kurt Schoop, a lifelong Kansan, mayor of Overland Park and a Democrat running to be your next governor.

At City Hall we don't have time for culture wars or political games.

We go to work every day year round to fix roads, build parks, and balance budgets.

As mayor, it's my job to make sure our city is focused on the things that matter to our neighbors.

I'm Mayor Curt Skoog, and I'm ready to work with you every day as the next governor of Kansas.

And let'stake a quick look at Cindy Holscher's daughter's TikToks which have made a splash.

Maybe it's because you have previously taken the maximum campaign donation from Core Civic for its 2024 campaign.

Additionally, his gubernatorial campaign took $5,000 from partners at the law firm representing Core Civic.

We spend way too much time on the Republicans.

But 45 seconds we seen the three main candidates for the Dems.

Tim.

Your thought.

So these are sort of introductory ads to try to explain these candidates to people, because the vast majority of voters don't know any of the three of them, and they're kind of scrambling for voter identity there and talking about the first two.

Skoog and of course, they're talking about I will fight for you every day.

And Cincy Holscher was attacking, of course, in, in that debate.

But, I think people want to just say, I will fight for you.

There's not a lot of detail there.

And and so I think they're just still at the introductory phase and scrambling to see who wins this, Democratic primary and, and tries to follow up where, Laura Kelly is leaving off.

30 seconds.

When it comes to Cindy Holscher, I think she's definitely trying to appeal to the people.

I mean, you look at her TikToks, they're a lot more personal, and I think that is helping her kind of grow her base with Ethan Corson.

I think he's betting that people want a Laura Kelly Democrat.

They like the administration.

They like how things are going.

Why diverge from that?

Skoog is saying instead of focusing on all of these, you know, big political fights, let's focus on what is going to advance the state.

Just like I focus on every day advancing my city.

Got to go to Bill.

You got 20 seconds there.

You're all right.

I'll just say on Corson's ad that I couldn't take my eyes off of the KC on his jacket.

KC Royals, that's Missouri.

And so he's on a baseball field, so maybe it should be called Field of Dreams.

Maybe, I don't know, maybe.

Yeah.

So great discussion.

And we couldn't resist all the Republicans, that's for sure.

Thank you all so much for joining us.

And I'm sure I'll be seeing you soon right after this primaries done.

And we'll look at the general election.

You've been watching an IGI 2026 election special.

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.

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