Cindy Holscher

Cindy Holscher grew up on a farm in a family whose working lives included construction sites, an elementary school and tenant farming.¹ Her father was a veteran and union construction worker, her mother worked at her school, and her grandparents had farmed land they did not own.¹

Raised in Slater, Missouri, she became a first generation college graduate, earning journalism and political science degrees at the University of Missouri before spending much of her career at Sprint.² She also worked as a substitute teacher, and she and her husband, Greg, raised three children who graduated from Kansas public schools.¹

Holscher entered the Kansas House before winning election to the state Senate in 2020, and helped establish the Women’s Bipartisan Caucus.¹ In 2017, she voted to override Governor Sam Brownback’s veto of a tax bill reversing major elements of his earlier tax cuts.³ Her current agenda includes expanding Medicaid, increasing special education funding and pausing new data centers until safeguards are established.⁴ She also supports legalizing recreational and medicinal cannabis, arguing that regulated sales could generate revenue for schools and other public services.⁴

She faces Republican Senate President Ty Masterson for the open seat being vacated by Governor Laura Kelly.² Both propose property tax relief, but Holscher favors lowering the residential assessment rate while Masterson seeks a cap on growth in assessed values.²