Kansas GOP governor hopeful Ty Masterson denies ‘no-show job’ claim over WSU role
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Ty Masterson earned $85,000 as Kansas Senate president and $163,000 at Wichita State.
- Masterson has been paid more than $1.1 million by the WSU Foundation to oversee GoCreate.
- Masterson’s campaign denied the “no-show job” claim and defended his tenure at.
Hello, Star readers.
Today, we’re taking a closer look at why Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson collects two state paychecks. He denies that his six-figure position at Wichita State is a “no-show job.”
Next, we’ll get into:
• KC projects slashed: Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe unveiled deep budget cuts, including nixing millions of dollars approved by lawmakers for Kansas City projects. Here’s who lost funding.
• Passing the collection plate: Johnson County pastor Adam Hamilton set a Kansas fundraising record in his quest to unseat U.S. Sen Roger Marshall. Here’s how much he raised.
This week in politics
Masterson, the Trump-endorsed Republican in the Kansas governor race, earned an $85,000 salary as a top lawmaker in Topeka last year.
He also made $163,000 as director of GoCreate, a Koch Collaborative, a community workspace on the campus of Wichita State University. Masterson has been paid more than $1.1 million by the WSU Foundation to oversee GoCreate, records show.
The issue of Masterson’s employment surfaced when one of his Republican primary rivals, entrepreneur Philip Sarnecki, shared a social media post claiming that Masterson rarely shows up on campus and questioning how he landed the job without a college degree. Sarnecki derided it as a “no-show job” — a claim that Masterson’s campaign adamantly denies.
Garrett Henson, Masterson’s spokesperson, defended his tenure at GoCreate as “some of the work (Masterson is) proudest of in his life,” and emphasized that he has consistently gone on leave without university pay or benefits during legislative sessions.
“GoCreate wanted a leader with a non-traditional path, because that’s exactly who it serves,” Henson said. “Ty built a career and a life without a degree, and it’s the reason he connects with the students GoCreate was built for. It’s not a gap on a resume. It’s why he’s the right person for the job.”
Read my full story to find out what a leading government ethics expert had to say about Masterson’s second state job and what happened when a reporter showed up at GoCreate.
More from this past week
• A state audit found that former Missouri Gov. Mike Parson wasted taxpayer dollars by using state aircraft to fly on 58 separate occasions when it ‘did not appear necessary.’
• A KC-area developer is suing the Missouri Young Republicans organization, alleging the group attempted to sabotage a housing project in Platte County through a bizarre smear campaign.
• The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has a new plan for assessing school performance. It calls for assigning letter grades to individual schools.
Looking for more?
• For more politics news, follow @bymatthewkelly.bsky.social, @kacen.bsky.social, @grice1911.bsky.social and Jack Harvel’s Facebook page.
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That’s all for now! See you next week.
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