Data Centers Split Kansas Governor Race

Both leading candidates once backed a sales tax break, but one now seeks a statewide moratorium.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Data Centers

Isometric editorial illustration of a plain windowless data center building with cooling units on a flat prairie field, evoking infrastructure policy. — Kansas gubernatorial candidates Ty Masterson and Cindy Holscher both backed a data center sales tax exemption, but Holscher now favors a statewide moratorium on new approvals. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

Live Poll

In your community, are data centers making things better or worse for residents?

Data centers have become a central issue in the Kansas governor race, where Republican candidate Sen. Ty Masterson and Democratic candidate Cindy Holscher both voted last year for a bill giving data center developers sales tax exemptions. Pro-data center super PAC Building the Future is spending more than $1.5 million to support Masterson. The development is political and policy-stage rather than a shipped technology.

Why it matters

The data center debate has become one of the top issues nationwide, and it is now shaping a statewide campaign in Kansas. Holscher has shifted to advocating a statewide moratorium while Masterson opposes moratoriums, signaling that infrastructure siting and energy use for AI-era computing is becoming a contested policy question.

The key measured figure is more than $1.5 million in super PAC spending backing Ty Masterson, a dollar amount that compares a single political committee's outlay against the race itself. The extraction does not provide energy, capacity, or performance specifications for the data center projects in question.

The players

Ty Masterson

Republican candidate for Kansas governor and state senator who opposes data center moratoriums.

Cindy Holscher

Democratic candidate for Kansas governor who now advocates a statewide moratorium on data centers.

Building the Future

Pro-data center super PAC spending more than $1.5 million to support Ty Masterson.

The details

Two data center projects are moving forward in De Soto, Kansas, and they are the local backdrop for the statewide fight. The sales tax exemption at issue reduces what developers pay on equipment and related purchases, which is why both major-party candidates previously backed it. Holscher's shift to a statewide moratorium would pause new approvals while lawmakers study the facilities' effects, and Masterson's opposition to moratoriums keeps approvals open.

Last year: Masterson and Holscher voted for the data center sales tax exemption bill.
Last week: Park University professor Matt Harris commented on the data center issue.
November 3, 2026: Coverage of data centers in the Kansas governor race was published.

Data Centers
Oct. 29
Rural Kansas Counties Court Data Centers to Boost Tax Base

The Tech Race

The Kansas fight places state-level data center policy inside a national debate that the source describes as one of the top issues nationwide. Both candidates' votes on last year's sales tax exemption are the baseline against which the shift toward moratorium advocacy now stands.

Kansas residents, particularly in communities like De Soto where two projects are advancing, may see the outcome of this race shape whether new facilities keep moving forward. The source does not state a timeline for any moratorium decision or project approval.

The takeaway

Watch whether the governor race produces a clear statewide position on moratoriums, which would set the policy direction for future approvals. Track the progress of the two De Soto projects as a concrete indicator of how the sales tax exemption is being applied.