Kansas GOP gubernatorial candidate Philip Sarnecki inflates personal record on voting frequency

Philip Sarnecki, a businessman seeking the Republican Party's nomination for governor, said during a campaign stop he missed voting in just two elections in the past 20 years. Public records say he didn't vote in the 2012 general election or in five primary elections since 2008, which meant he didn't cast a ballot in the 2022 primary featuring the proposed abortion amendment to the Kansas Constitution. He is seen here after filing for office June 1, 2026, in Topeka. (Photo by Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA — Republican Philip Sarnecki’s stump speech at a campaign fundraiser in Leawood delved into his youth in Illinois, a prosperous business career, reasons for running for governor and a theory about how he could win the GOP nomination in August.

He offered play-by-play on a call from a Kansas Republican operative inquiring about his willingness to abandon his campaign to be Senate President Ty Masterson’s running mate in the governor’s race.

Sarnecki, while taking questions from the crowd, touted his record of participation as a voter in Kansas elections. And, that’s where his rhetoric ran up against hard facts.

“I missed two primaries in 20 years. No general elections. Two primaries. That’s pretty good,” said Sarnecki, his comments recorded this week at the event. “One, I was sick, and one, we were out of the country.”

The Voter View website hosted by the Kansas Secretary of State’s Office painted a different picture of Sarnecki’s vigilance in terms of casting ballots. The public record reveals Sarnecki voted in 15 elections during the past 17 years, but he missed the 2012 general election and the primary elections of 2012, 2014, 2016, 2022 and 2024.

Sarnecki, who has taken a position in opposition to abortion, missed the August 2022 primary that featured a proposed amendment to the Kansas Constitution to nullify a 2019 Kansas Supreme Court decision declaring the state’s Bill of Rights guaranteed Kansan women the right to end a pregnancy. The state court’s opinion shielded Kansas’ abortion rights law despite overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The “Value Them Both” amendment on abortion was defeated in the statewide referendum by more than 160,000 votes. The “no” position received 557,000 votes, or 59.1% of the total, while “yes” drew 385,000 votes, or 40.8%. The amendment lost in all four congressional districts but fell short by the widest margin with 67.3% voting “no” in the 3rd District where Sarnecki resides.

Sarnecki, who has not previously sought elective office, is competing in the GOP primary against gubernatorial candidates, including Masterson, Secretary of State Scott Schwab and former Johnson County Commissioner Charlotte O’Hara, with significant records of opposing abortion.

“That is so telling that he couldn’t even make the effort to vote in the ‘Value Them Both’ election,” O’Hara said in an interview. “That’s damaging. There’s no excuse.”

In response to inquiries by Kansas Reflector, Sarnecki declined to explain his absence in five — not two — primary elections. He conceded he didn’t have a clean record of taking part in general elections.

“The treasurer of my campaign was the treasurer for the ‘Value Them Both’ campaign,” said Sarnecki, referring to Julia Samaniego. “I’m proud of my strong pro-life record and the long history of my Republican voting record.”

The secretary of state’s archive of voting participation among Kansans indicated Republican gubernatorial candidates Masterson, O’Hara, Schwab and Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt voted in the August 2022 primary when the constitutional amendment on abortion was decided.

In the campaign stop in Leawood, Sarnecki said a Republican political organizer called him before the June 1 candidate filing deadline to ask whether Sarnecki would be interested in a conversation about being on a ticket as Masterson’s lieutenant governor running mate. Masterson, who has served in the Legislature for 20 years, had just landed the endorsement of President Donald Trump, and former Gov. Jeff Colyer was preparing to exit the GOP governor’s race.

Sarnecki, who sold wealth management, insurance and employee benefits companies in preparation for his campaign for governor, said he told the caller that he didn’t enter the Kansas gubernatorial contest in search of a title or a job. He eventually told the caller he had no interest in discussing at potential offer from Masterson and would continue his “outsider” campaign for governor.

“I am definitely not running to join the establishment,” he told the fundraiser crowd in Johnson County. “I’m running to defeat the establishment.”

Masterson selected state Sen. Jeff Klemp, a Republican from Leavenworth, to be his running mate. Sarnecki’s choice of a running mate was Joy Eakins, a former Wichita school board member who dropped her own campaign for governor.

“I did not make that call to him,” Masterson said in a KSNT post-debate interview. “I don’t know if somebody in the party apparatus was trying to feel him out for something like that before they came to me. That might be true, but I did not, and by the way, would not, have offered him that spot.”

Sarnecki, in his pitch to potential donors in Johnson County, said he was “dominating the ground game” in the GOP campaign. He said the race was a two-person contest between himself and Masterson. He said generating $1 million to $1.5 million in donations to pay for a major advertising surge could make the difference on Aug. 4.

“We can absolutely win this race if we do the financial part that allows us to get the commercials done,” he said.