Kansas Democrat casts doubt on rival’s labor endorsements. What do unions say?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Cindy Holscher questioned Ethan Corson’s organized labor endorsements during a debate.
- Several union leaders reaffirmed their support for Corson and criticized Holscher’s votes.
- Holscher is a member of the Kansas National Education Association.
Kansas labor leaders on Thursday defended their organizations’ endorsements of state Sen. Ethan Corson in this year’s governor race after one of his Democratic rivals cast doubt on the endorsement process during a KCUR debate.
“I’m a union member. I come from a union family,” Sen. Cindy Holscher said during the candidate forum on “Up to Date” with Steve Kraske Thursday morning.
“This year, things were done differently in terms of those endorsements,” Holscher continued. “Normally, there’s a process. Normally, there’s an interview, paperwork process. Wasn’t this year. And I think people should be curious about that.”
Corson is Gov. Laura Kelly’s pick to succeed her in office. He has also secured endorsements from 19 union groups, according to his campaign.
“We all have different processes, and in my union, what I can say, the endorsement process, we always get recommendations and then we present them to our board. Then, our board makes the decision off of that,” said Ty Dragoo, state legislative director for the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, or SMART.
SMART endorsed Corson on July 23, 2025, the day after he announced his candidacy.
Dragoo also serves as chair of the Kansas Working Alliance, whose member organizations collectively represent more than 500,000 workers. He said Holscher’s opposition to a sports authority bill structuring the public ownership of the Kansas City Chiefs’ planned $3 billion stadium in Wyandotte County should be a red flag for Kansas workers.
“There was unanimous agreement that when Cindy started flip-flopping in the Legislature on whether or not she was going to support union jobs with the stadium project, I think that was interview enough for most unions as they were discussing upcoming endorsements,” Dragoo said.
Holscher voted for the original incentive framework to bring the Chiefs or Royals to Kansas in 2024. She has since said the specifics of the deal negotiated by Lt. Gov. and Commerce Secretary David Toland were too generous to the Chiefs’ owners.
“Cindy’s votes have always been based on what’s best for taxpayers and everyday people,” her campaign manager, Madi Ashcroft, said in a statement. “She doesn’t favor billionaire giveaways to sports teams or Big Tech. If that makes some people mad, she’s OK with that.”
Kansas labor endorsements
Mike Kane, president of the Tri-County Labor Council of Eastern Kansas, said he’s known Corson and Holscher both for about 10 years.
“Ethan has been more labor-friendly. (Holscher) has always wanted union support and she got it until this time,” Kane said. “Yes, we endorsed Ethan because the governor thought Ethan was a better candidate. I personally thought Ethan was a better candidate.”
Kane said Holscher has attended union events and filled out paperwork answering labor-related questions that the union uses to evaluate candidates as part of its endorsement process.
“She went through that original process. But there would be no reason to have them fill out a second questionnaire because we also looked at what they’ve done in the Legislature,” Kane said.
He said Holscher’s criticism of the Chiefs deal and her decision to come out in favor of a statewide moratorium on new data center developments both indicate a lack of commitment to projects that support union jobs.
“When you think of the magnitude of those two things alone, there’s no need to give you a third reason,” Kane said.
Holscher is a member of the Kansas National Education Association, the organization confirmed. KNEA has not yet endorsed in the governor’s race.
Holscher’s campaign manager pointed out that she — like Corson — has a 100% rating from the Kansas AFL-CIO, which maintains a legislative scorecard based on lawmakers’ votes.
“Cindy will never stop fighting for workers and their families because that’s where she comes from and who she is,” Ashcroft said. “She’s not interested in petty insider politics or sucking up to the establishment.”
Corson’s campaign issued its own statement in response to Holscher’s accusations at the debate, saying Corson’s record in the Senate “fighting for working people in Kansas speaks for itself.”
“Discrediting these organizations that work day in and day out for working families just because she’s mad she did not receive their support is pretty shocking,” spokesperson Glynnis Harvey said.
