By The Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — State Sen. Ethan Corson announced Tuesday the decision to seek the Kansas Democratic Party’s nomination for governor with a campaign focused on improving education, lowering taxes and creating jobs.
Corson, a Fairway attorney elected to the Kansas Senate in 2020, said he was committed to advancing bipartisan leadership in state government.
“I’m not interested in the partisan battles you see on cable news,” he said in a statement. “Kansans want leaders who work together, regardless of political party, to get things done. That’s exactly what I’ve done in the state Senate, and that’s the kind of commonsense, bipartisan leadership I’ll bring to the governor’s office.”
He’ll compete for the party’s nomination in the August 2026 primary with fellow state Sen. Cindy Holscher of Overland Park. She launched her campaign in June.
Lt. Gov. David Toland, who serves as secretary of Kansas Department of Commerce, said Tuesday he wouldn’t run for governor in 2026. There had been speculation that he would seek the Democratic nomination.
Corson, 43, worked for about seven years at a law firm in Washington, D.C., after completing law school. He entered government service with the U.S. Department of Commerce. In 2019, he returned to Kansas after a decade to become executive director of the state Democratic Party.
In the Senate, he said he collaborated with Republicans and Democrats to do away with the state’s sales tax on groceries, reduce property taxes, end the state income tax on Social Security benefits and provide relief to veterans, seniors and middle-class Kansans.
He opposed placement on statewide ballots in August 2026 of an amendment to the Kansas Constitution sponsored by GOP legislators to move to direct election of members of the Kansas Supreme Court. Currently, governors appoint justices from a list of finalists offered by a merit-review committee.
“The voice of the people is simply just going to be drowned out by dark money and special interest money flooding these elections,” Corson said.
Corson said he was raised in Johnson County on core values of honesty, hard work and giving back when able.
“I’m a lifelong Kansan, a dad with young kids and a proud product of our public schools,” he said. “I’m running for governor to create opportunity for the next generation of Kansans, so they can build a life here. That means making sure Kansas has the best schools in America and is the most affordable place to live in America.”
