Kansas senator makes ‘common sense, common ground’ pitch for Democratic nomination for governor

Kansas state Sen. Ethan Corson, a Fairway Democrat seeking the party's nomination for governor in 2026, said on the Kansas Reflector podcast the state benefits from centrist, moderate leadership in the governor's office. (Anna Kaminski/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — Ethan Corson said he had no interest in campaigning for Kansas governor by engaging in sleight-of-hand politics or the partisan food fights of strident liberals or conservatives.

“When folks look at what they need in the next governor, it’s not somebody who’s going to move this state to the right or move this state to the left. It’s somebody who is going to move this state forward,” Corson said. “I think Kansas has done better when we had common sense, common ground moderate leadership who can work with members of both parties to really solve problems.”

Corson, who resides in Fairway and represents a Kansas Senate district in Johnson County, said on the Kansas Reflector podcast that he would concentrate as governor on lowering real-world costs borne by families. He would seek suitable financing of quality public schools. He would emphasize expansion of business opportunity and job creation throughout the state’s 105 counties.

The office of governor is a wide open race for Republicans and Democrats in the August primary and November general elections of 2026. Term-limited Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly will step aside in January 2027.

The Democratic field features Corson and state Sen. Cindy Holscher, who also serves a district in Johnson County. The Republican campaign is numerically more robust. The GOP roster includes former Gov. Jeff Colyer, Secretary of State Scott Schwab, Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt and Senate President Ty Masterson. All six contenders were at one time in the Legislature.

Corson, 43, grew up dreaming of playing baseball at the University of Kansas or Kansas State University. That didn’t work out. Instead, he was a left-handed pitcher at Garden City Community College and Washington University in St. Louis. He earned degrees at both schools before completing a law degree at WU.

“In the Garden City experience, I really learned so much,” he said. “I was on a team with folks from all around the state, from all different backgrounds who brought all different kinds of life experiences. It really opened my eyes to the beauty of the state, to the diversity of the people around the state and to kind of our common values in Kansas.”

 

Quality of life issues

Corson worked as an attorney in private practice in the District of Columbia for seven years. He was a senior adviser to the U.S. Department of Commerce secretary under President Barack Obama. At the Department of Commerce, he was chief of staff of the International Trade Association.

He returned to Kansas to become executive director of the Kansas Democratic Party. In 2020, he was elected to the Kansas Senate and won reelection in 2024. He’s married to Jenna Brofsky, a labor lawyer who served on the Fairway City Council. They have two sons.

In the Legislature, Corson said he was proud to have been part of a coalition that eliminated the state’s 6.5% sales tax on groceries as well as the state’s income tax on Social Security benefits. He said not enough attention had been paid by the Republican-led Legislature to other options for moderating basic costs faced by families.

“Kansas has been a place where you could send your kid to a good public school and where you could have an affordable middle class quality of life,” Corson said. “I worry that we’ve moved away from that.”

He said he would move Kansas forward through construction of more middle-income housing. He would seek a bipartisan child tax credit to help parents with young kids. He said the state ought to expand a property tax freeze for elderly residents, because too few qualify for the existing program.

He said the state’s $7.25 per hour minimum wage was inadequate. Oklahoma likewise ties its minimum wage to the federal standard of $7.25, but the minimum stood at $13.50 in Nebraska, $13.75 in Missouri and $14.81 in Colorado.

“If you’re working full-time in Kansas, you should not be living in poverty,” Corson said.

He said Kansas had to push for excellence in education and economic development so young Kansans didn’t feel they had to leave the state to do what they wanted professionally.

“When I’m governor, if the Legislature sends me a bill that I don’t think adequately and fully funds our schools, I’m going to veto that bill. If the Legislature sends me a bill that’s going to take public money and put it into private schools, I’m going to veto that bill,” he said.

 

Health care, constitution

Corson has endorsed legislation to expand Medicaid eligibility for lower-income Kansans. That effort has been stalled by Republicans for more than a decade despite apprehension that rejecting billions of dollars in federal aid financially weakened hospitals and clinics. Pending federal cuts to Medicaid could elevate the threat, Corson said.

“We could have facilities closing over the next couple of years,” he said. “One of the things to remember is that when a hospital in the community closes it’s not just the people on Medicaid who lose access. It’s everybody.”

He said he opposed a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution that would have nullified a Kansas Supreme Court decision affirming women had a fundamental right to end a pregnancy. The amendment failed 59% to 41%.

“These are not decisions where we need politicians in Topeka dictating what kind of health care women can and can’t receive,” he said.

Corson said he opposed a constitutional amendment to be placed on the August 2026 ballot that would replace the state’s merit-selection process for appointing Supreme Court justices with a system of statewide election of the justices.

He said the resulting election campaigns would be financed by organizations or individuals with ideological agendas rather than a commitment to the review of case facts in terms of the constitution and court precedent.

“I don’t think Kansans want to basically put the Supreme Court up for sale to the highest bidder,” Corson said.