Here’s why a former Wichita school board member is running for governor
Wichita businesswoman Joy Eakins built her data analytics company in Kansas. After running the numbers, she’s concluded she should be the state’s next CEO.
Eakins, a former Wichita school board member, launched her campaign for governor last month, joining an already crowded field of Republican primary candidates seeking to replace term-limited Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
In a promotional video announcing her candidacy, Eakins, 55, laid out her case against what she called the radical left and weak Republican politicians who defend the status quo.
Her primary opponents include Secretary of State Scott Schwab, former Gov. Jeff Colyer, state Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt, former Johnson County Commissioner Charlotte O’Hara, podcaster Doug Billings and fellow Wichita businesswoman Stacy Rogers.
On the Democratic side, state Sen. Cindy Holscher and personal fitness trainer Marty Tuley have both entered the race. Additional candidates are expected in both primary contests.
In an interview with The Eagle, Eakins said she wants to cut taxes, slash regulations and remake Kansas’ education system through a voucher program. That would mean using taxpayer dollars to pay private or parochial school tuition for parents who don’t want to send their children to public schools.
“Giving parents that voice and that opportunity allows them to move their money and to be heard. People will treat them, I think, better because they have the purse strings,” Eakins said.
She was elected in 2013 to help oversee Kansas’ largest and most diverse school district, opting not to seek re-election in 2017.
Eakins was often a dissenting voice on the board, speaking out about subpar state test scores and casting the sole vote in opposition to funding a lawsuit over public school funding levels that the Kansas Supreme Court ultimately ruled to be unconstitutionally low.
One problem, she claims, is that teachers unions have grown too powerful. She wants to do away with a state law that requires local districts to negotiate with unions, saying it should be up to each school board to decide the best approach.
Epicenter for entrepreneurship
Eakins, who is originally from Mississippi, earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Southern Mississippi, a master’s in applied mathematics from the University of Colorado Boulder and a master’s in theological studies from Gateway Seminary in California.
She moved to Kansas with her husband, Eric, who is originally from the state, and started her company the same year.
Cornerstone Data, which Eakins founded in 2008, now serves clients in 27 states, providing services “from analytics to AI and machine learning,” she said.
Eakins finds one data point particularly concerning — according to Pew Research, fewer people have moved to Kansas in the last 15 years than all but six other states.
She said Kansas should be a place where people from around the country come to launch big ideas.
“The industries we’re talking to — some of them can’t even make a profit or break even with the regulations that are in place,” Eakins said. “So people aren’t going to start a business if it’s hard to do business here.”
She believes Kansas will “continue to decline if we don’t change something drastic pretty quick.”
“There was a moment where my husband and I looked at each other and thought, ‘You know, there’s nobody coming to save us,” Eakins said. “We need a different kind of leader.”
The Kansas party primary election will be held Aug. 4, 2026.
This story was originally published July 11, 2025 at 5:05 AM with the headline "Here’s why a former Wichita school board member is running for governor."