WICHITA – Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson’s Republican campaign for governor picked up another major conservative endorsement today as Kansans for Life Political Action Committee announced its support for the Masterson-Jeff Klemp ticket.
The endorsement adds one of Kansas’ best-known pro-life political organizations to Masterson’s column less than two weeks after President Donald Trump endorsed the Andover Republican. Together, the endorsements give Masterson an increasingly defined lane in a crowded Republican primary that includes Insurance Commissioner Vicki Schmidt, Secretary of State Scott Schwab, Charlotte O’Hara, Philip Sarnecki, Stacy Rogers and Nick Reinecker.
KFL PAC Chairman Larry Damm said the organization chose Masterson and Klemp not simply because of their records, but because of the risk that the anti-abortion vote could be split among several candidates.
“While other pro-life candidates are also running for Governor in the Republican Primary, the frightening scenario of radical pro-abortion Vicki Schmidt slipping through a crowded race to claim an unearned victory is too great to ignore,” Damm said in the release.
KFL’s statement sharply criticized Schmidt, saying that while she is presenting herself as a moderate Republican, her legislative record included 53 votes KFL considers aligned with abortion-rights interests. The organization accused Schmidt of opposing limits on dismemberment abortions, protections involving child rape survivors, parental consent requirements for minors and conscience protections for medical professionals.
Schmidt’s campaign has framed her as a Republican who can appeal to a broader Kansas electorate. KFL’s endorsement makes clear that the abortion issue will be used by opponents to challenge that positioning in the Republican primary.
Masterson, meanwhile, is being presented by KFL as the candidate best positioned to consolidate pro-life voters. The organization pointed to his legislative record and to his role since 2023 as Senate president during repeated override votes of Gov. Laura Kelly’s vetoes of abortion-related legislation. KFL also cited Klemp’s voting record, describing the Leavenworth Republican as having a 100 percent pro-life record.
“Ty Masterson has built a rock-solid pro-life record while serving in the legislature,” Damm said. “His running mate Jeff Klemp also has a 100% pro-life voting record.”
The endorsement is politically significant because Kansans for Life has long been one of the most recognizable issue-based organizations in Kansas Republican politics. Its voter guides and PAC endorsements are often watched closely in legislative and statewide primaries, particularly in races where multiple Republican candidates are competing for conservative voters.
At the same time, KFL’s influence has limits in a statewide general-election setting. Kansas voters rejected the Value Them Both constitutional amendment in 2022, preserving state constitutional protection for abortion rights. That vote remains a reminder that abortion politics in Kansas do not break as cleanly statewide as they often do inside Republican primaries.
That tension is part of what makes the 2026 governor’s race unusual. Republicans are trying to reclaim the governor’s office after two terms of Democrat Laura Kelly, who is term-limited. The Republican primary field remains crowded, and KFL’s endorsement is plainly intended to prevent anti-abortion voters from dividing their support among several candidates.
KFL also acknowledged that several of Masterson’s opponents have pro-life credentials. The group said Schwab and Ken Rahjes have pro-life voting records, Sarnecki and Joy Eakins have articulated pro-life positions, O’Hara and Michelle Dombrosky have pro-life records and community ties, and Rogers has campaigned on a pro-life platform. Rahjes, Eakins and Dombrosky, however, are not among the filed Republican candidates for governor after the filing deadline.
The endorsement comes as the Republican race has also become increasingly combative. Sarnecki, a Johnson County businessman, recently alleged that Masterson was afraid to debate and suggested he would skip Friday night’s (tonight’s) televised GOP debate. That allegation quickly appeared faulty. Political reporting this week said Masterson was expected to participate in the debate, and Masterson’s campaign also pushed back publicly.
The debate issue matters because Masterson’s opponents are trying to cast him as the establishment favorite after Trump’s endorsement and former Gov. Jeff Colyer’s decision not to file for the race. Sarnecki and others have argued that Masterson should have to defend his legislative record in front of Republican voters rather than rely on endorsements.
But the KFL endorsement gives Masterson another answer to those attacks: his campaign can now argue that two major forces in Republican primary politics — Trump-aligned voters and organized pro-life activists — are being urged to coalesce around the same ticket.
The Kansas Republican primary is Tuesday, Aug. 4.
Dane Hicks is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and the United States Marine Corps Officer Candidate School at Quantico, VA. He is the author of novels "The Skinning Tree" and "A Whisper For Help." As publisher of the Anderson County Review in Garnett, KS., he is a recipient of the Kansas Press Association's Boyd Community Service Award as well as more than 60 awards for excellence in news, editorial and photography.
