Trump-backed Ty Masterson wins Republican nomination for Kansas governor

Republican state Senate President Ty Masterson will face Democratic state Sen. Cindy Holscher in Kansas’ election for governor this fall, NBC News projects, setting up a contest that represents the GOP’s best gubernatorial pickup opportunity this year.

Both candidates won their respective primaries on Tuesday. Masterson rode an endorsement from President Donald Trump to emerge from a crowded GOP field, while Holscher focused on a progressive, anti-establishment message to defeat a fellow state Sen. Ethan Corson, who was backed by term-limited Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.

Holscher pitched herself in ads as someone who “gets that working people are tired of being sold out by both parties.” She also made her support for a proposed moratorium on new data center construction a big part of her message.

Corson massively outspent Holscher in the primary, and leaned heavily on his support from Kelly, who won two terms in a state Trump won by double digits in the past three presidential contests.

One of his recent TV ads featured Kelly praising him as someone who can “stand up to Trump and ICE” and has the “strength and judgement and backbone” for the state’s top job. Another ad, run by a pro-Corson PAC called Heartland Priorities, showed Kelly lauding Corson for having a “record of standing up for Kansas values” and for “stepping up and fighting back” against Trump.

Kelly, who has maintained strong job approval ratings , told the Kansas City Star in a recent interview that Corson was the only Democrat in the race capable of winning the support of the state’s “extraordinarily moderate” Republican and independent voters in November. She said that, “if he’s not elected, I’m very concerned about the direction Kansas will go in,” while also suggesting that Holscher was an “extremist.”

Meanwhile, on the GOP side, Masterson and his allies were outspent on the airwaves by his opponents, but his support from the president put him over the top.

In a tele-rally last week, Trump lauded Masterson as a “fighter,” a “winner” and as someone who has “done a fantastic job — throughout life, actually.”

“We love each other, we love that state,” Trump said.

In Kansas, registered Republicans outnumber registered Democrats nearly 2 to 1. The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter has rated the general election contest as “lean Republican.”