Democrat · Kansas's 4th District · 2026
Katy Tyndell
Tyndell grew up in a small Kansas farming and ranching town.
Biography
Katy Tyndell grew up in a small Kansas farming and ranching town.1 She and her husband moved from the Washington area to Wichita in 2013, and they have three children.2 She now helps run family businesses, including an independent oil and gas company her grandfather founded more than fifty years ago.1
After law school, Tyndell worked as a staff attorney at the National Congress of American Indians.1 Her work focused on tribal law enforcement and violence against Native women.2 She also served on the steering committee of the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, working on public policy addressing abuse, assault and stalking.2
Her community work has included volunteering with Moms Demand Action and the local NAACP and serving as chair of the Sedgwick County Fire District One Steering Council.1 In 2022, she submitted legislative testimony supporting a process for removing firearms from people prohibited from possessing them because of domestic abuse.2 In 2025, she cofounded the civic engagement organization Leading Kansas.1
Her congressional platform calls for affordable healthcare, lower taxes for working Kansans and stronger public schools.3 She supports expanding career and technical education and partnerships between schools and employers.3 She also favors stronger online privacy protections, especially for children, and safeguards for workers as businesses adopt artificial intelligence.3
Record and controversies
Nonprofit coordination complaint
The Kansas GOP announced an FEC complaint in September 2026 alleging improper campaign assistance from Leading Kansas, the nonprofit Tyndell cofounded, through email communications and event coordination.4 She denied using the group's lists or other resources to run her campaign and said the emails cited announced her departure from its leadership.4 She also questioned why the GOP waited until September 30, months after the communications, to raise the issue.4
This review did not verify an FEC finding or an announced agency investigation.
Dismissed fundraising complaint
The FEC dismissed a 2020 complaint alleging that Scholten's campaign accepted excessive contributions because it had not promptly listed two joint fundraising committees on its organizational paperwork.5 Her campaign acknowledged an administrative oversight but said the transfers had been reported and the fundraising relationships were already public; it denied accepting excessive contributions.6 The agency noted that the fundraising committees had timely filed their own paperwork and her campaign had corrected its form.5 The commission voted unanimously to dismiss under prosecutorial discretion and closed the case on May 26, 2021.7