The Kansas Chamber’s 2026 General Election Candidate Conversations brings together business leaders and candidates for U.S. Senator, Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and Insurance Commissioner ahead of the November election.
Through moderated discussions, candidates will share their perspectives on issues important to Kansas employers, including workforce development, tax policy, regulations, economic growth, and the long-term competitiveness of our state.
Explore the candidate profiles below to learn more about each candidate’s background, priorities, and vision for Kansas, and join us for these important conversations about the future of our state.
Senator Roger Marshall is a fifth-generation farm kid from Butler County, Kansas, physician, business owner, husband, father, grandfather, and U.S. Senator. The first in his family to attend college, he graduated from Butler County Community College, earned a bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University, and received his medical degree from the University of Kansas. Before entering public service, Doc practiced OB/GYN medicine in Great Bend for more than 25 years, delivered over 5,000 babies, served seven years in the Army Reserves, and grew his medical practice from five employees to more than 300. A lifelong community leader, he and his wife, Laina, taught Sunday school for more than 25 years, and he has served as a church elder, deacon, board chairman, youth sports coach, and Rotary District Governor.
In the Senate, Marshall serves on the Agriculture, Finance, Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Budget Committees, including chairing subcommittees focused on conservation, biotechnology, primary health care, and retirement security. As a physician-legislator and member of several congressional caucuses, he has become a leading voice on health care, agriculture, pro-life issues, Second Amendment rights, and international trade. Doc and Laina have been married for 42 years and have four children and five grandchildren.
Adam Hamilton is a Democratic candidate for the United States Senate in Kansas who has devoted his life to service. A fifth-generation Kansan, his family came to Dickinson County 147 years ago and helped build the towns of Hope and Elmo. His mother’s parents came to Wichita to work at Beechcraft, and his grandfather went on to fly for TWA.
Adam grew up in Prairie Village and married his high school sweetheart, LaVon, the week after graduation. They celebrated their 44th anniversary this June. They have two daughters, a granddaughter, and two dogs.
In 1990, at 25 years old, Adam and LaVon started a church in the Kansas City area with four people in a borrowed space. For 36 years he has served as pastor of a congregation roughly equal parts Republicans, Democrats and independents, doing the work to bring people together that politicians only talk about.The congregation he built has come together to give hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours and raise tens of millions of dollars to support neighbors and communities in need.
They became the largest source of donated food in Kansas City after the regional food bank and the area’s largest sponsor of blood drives. They gave away thousands of beds to children who didn’t have one, funded a mobile dental clinic that treats 2,700 kids a year at their schools, and invested millions of dollars in the lowest-income elementary schools in the area.
Adam is running for Senate because he believes we need to stop the chaos and corruption in Washington by actually listening to people and working together to get things done for Kansas families. Before deciding to run, he went on a listening tour, visiting communities all across the state to hear from people about their concerns. In his work, his writing, and now his campaign, Adam believes we are all called to serve our communities.
Cindy Holscher was raised on a farm and brought up with common sense, Midwest values, and a love of her country. Cindy and her husband Greg have lived in Kansas for over 25 years, and their three kids graduated from public schools.
In the House and Senate, Cindy co-founded the Women’s Bipartisan Caucus and helped end the failed Brownback experiment, which drained billions from our schools. She worked to reverse school budget cuts, restore common sense to state finances, and put the Kansas economy back on track.
Now, she’s running for Governor because Kansas deserves a leader who has a proven track record of fighting for all Kansans.
Born and raised in Butler County, Ty learned Kansas values early – live your faith, stand by your family, work hard, and if you’re not willing to do something about it, don’t waste time complaining.
These values led Ty to run for the Andover City Commission more than twenty years ago after being dissatisfied with the direction of the community that had given him so much. Since then, Ty has never stopped fighting to make Kansas a better place to live.
Ty was elected to the state legislature in 2004, where he has been a reliable conservative leader in Topeka, delivering on our conservative priorities: lower taxes, more efficient spending, safer communities, and a stronger, more prosperous Kansas.
He became President of the Kansas Senate in 2021 after being elected unanimously by his colleagues.
As President of the Kansas Senate, Ty has led the fight to get Kansas back on track. He championed a $2 billion tax cut for Kansas families. Ty has also been at the forefront of the fight against the woke agenda, by banning DEI in our higher education system, men from competing in women’s sports, and transgender surgeries for minors. And he preserved the integrity of Kansas elections with commonsense measures to protect the ballot box.
Ty is a small business owner, entrepreneur, and laborer. He leads GoCreate, a community workspace at Wichita State University that gives entrepreneurs of all ages the resources they need to launch businesses and turn ideas into a reality.
Ty still lives in Butler County, representing the district where he was born in the legislature. Ty has been married to his wife, Marlo, for 30 years. Together they have six children and seven grandchildren. They attend NewSpring Church.
Col. Pat Proctor served in the Army from 1989-2019. He and his wife Aree came to Ft. Leavenworth in 2006 and it has been home ever since. The Proctors own Baan Thai Restaurant, which they have built into the largest Thai restaurant chain in Kansas. Pat served in Iraq and Afghanistan, while Aree maintained the home front in Leavenworth, raising their two children.
Since retiring from the Army, Pat has continued to serve through civic organizations and investment to bring jobs and opportunity to his hometown of Leavenworth. Pat was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 2020, and serves as Chair of the House Elections Committee and as Chair of the Joint Committee on Kansas Security. Pat is also an assistant professor at Wichita State University teaching courses on national security issues.
As a businesswoman, community leader, and public servant, what drives me every single day is opportunity. The opportunity to build a better life, to start a business, to participate in Democracy.
My passion lies in helping people seize and expand their opportunities.
With 16 years of business experience in technology, real estate, and finance, I understand firsthand the challenges that both small and large businesses face. I’ve also experienced the rewards of entrepreneurship: building a small real estate investment firm and founding my own interior design company.
Service has always been at the core of what I care about. Through volunteering with the League of Women Voters, seven years as an election worker getting to observe the process up close, and representing House District 48 in the Kansas Legislature, I’ve seen how compassion, collaboration and a commitment to integrity can create real change. These experiences have deepened my belief in opportunity for all, and as your Secretary of State I plan to fight every day for those hard-won opportunities.
The act of voting should not be a partisan political issue. It’s a fundamental right and a civic duty that should be available to every eligible citizen.
As a State Representative, I’ve grown increasingly frustrated with leaders at both the federal and state levels who spread lies and disinformation about our elections, creating confusion and eroding trust in the process. As Secretary of State, I will work to shut down disinformation, instill the electorate with a newfound sense of confidence, and ensure that voters have the information they need to make an informed decision at the ballot box.
Chris Mann has dedicated his life to serving and protecting Kansas communities – first as a police officer and then as a prosecutor. His career as a police officer ended when he was injured in the line of duty. Then, as a prosecutor, he handled cases from traffic tickets to DUIs to murders and protected consumers by holding white-collar criminals accountable.
Today, he represents victims of drunk driving in his private law practice. Outside of his law practice, Chris has been a member of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, as well as served on the boards of the Lawrence Habitat for Humanity, Just Food, and FRST, a non-profit organization that provides peer support services for first responders with PTSD.
Attorney General Kris Kobach was raised in Topeka, Kansas, where he graduated from Washburn Rural High School. He completed his undergraduate studies in government at Harvard University, graduating first in his department and summa cum laude. A Marshall Scholar, he received his Ph.D. in politics from the University of Oxford. Kobach received his J.D. from Yale Law School, serving as notes development editor of the Yale Law Journal.
Kobach clerked for the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and shortly thereafter became a professor of constitutional law at the University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Law, 1996-2011. During that period, Kobach received a White House Fellowship from President George W. Bush. He served in the United States Department of Justice under Attorney General John Ashcroft as Counsel to the Attorney General.
Kobach served as the 31st Kansas Secretary of State, 2011-2019. In 2017, President Trump tapped him to lead the Presidential Commission on Election Integrity.
As an attorney in private practice, Kobach litigated some of the most high-profile cases in the country, including defending statutes and ordinances against the ACLU on multiple occasions. In 2012, Kobach brought the first challenge to President Obama’s DACA amnesty on behalf of 10 ICE agents. In 2022, he represented 36 members of the Air Force and Air National Guard who were denied a religious exemption to the Biden vaccine mandate.
Kobach was elected as Kansas’s 45th Attorney General in November 2022. As attorney general he led and personally argued multiple challenges to the illegal actions of the Biden Administration, including obtaining an injunction stopping Biden’s illegal Title IX regulation that would have opened women’s locker rooms and facilities on college campuses to biological males. He also stopped the Biden Administration’s regulation that provided Obamacare benefits to illegal aliens. In 2024, the nation’s Republican attorneys general elected Kobach Chairman of the Republican Attorney General Association.
He lives near Lecompton with his wife, Heather, and their five children.
Dan Hawkins spent a good share of his early childhood on his grandfather’s dairy farm in southern Harper County. He later served in the Kansas Army National Guard where he learned many of the leadership lessons that would later help him in the legislature.
In 1985, Dan married his college sweetheart Diane, and they have two beautiful daughters and four grandkids! Dan loves spending time with his family, introducing his grandson Rocky to his love of rodeos, and occasionally going fishing when time allows.
In 1991, Dan and his father started their first business. From that time on, Dan knew that owning his own business is exactly what he wanted to do.
In 1995, Dan started his career in the insurance business. During that time, he specialized in employee benefits, helping small businesses and their employees get the most out of their insurance. For 30 years Dan has specialized in helping Kansans navigate the complex insurance industry.
Dan has represented the 100th District in the Wichita area in the Kansas House since 2013. Before joining the ranks of House leadership, Dan served as Chair of the House Health Committee. He was elected Majority Leader in 2019 and served two terms in that role until he was elected Speaker of the House in 2023.
Dinah Sykes is running for Kansas Insurance Commissioner because she’s seen firsthand how honest and independent leadership can actually improve people’s lives. She’s the only candidate for Insurance Commissioner with a real track record of delivering results that matter, and she’s ready to bring a new generation of energy and common sense to the Commissioner’s office.
Dinah understands that far too many Kansans are struggling under the weight of high health insurance costs – or worse, going without coverage at all because they simply can’t afford it. She knows that our state can do better, and she is committed to making sure every single person in Kansas has access to quality health insurance that doesn’t break the bank.
For Dinah, it all comes down to two things: fairness and affordability. She’s tired of seeing the insurance industry denying payment or blocking treatment for consumers, so she’s making it her mission to hold the insurance industry accountable so that they play by the rules.
Juan C. Luengo is a proven Kansas business leader, entrepreneur, and community advocate with nearly two decades of experience in risk management, financial stewardship, and business development. As CEO of Engage Insurance Group, he successfully transformed the firm into a thriving multi-carrier brokerage, expanding partnerships, growing its client base, and streamlining operations through innovation and responsible financial management. Throughout his career, Juan has helped businesses and families protect their assets, manage risk, and plan for long-term success.
A champion for small businesses and strong communities, Juan has dedicated his time to mentoring entrepreneurs, supporting minority- and women-owned businesses, and serving on numerous nonprofit and industry boards. Fluent in English and Spanish, he is committed to making government more accessible and responsive to all Kansans. Juan is running for Kansas State Treasurer to bring real-world financial expertise, accountability, and disciplined leadership to the management of taxpayer dollars and Kansas’ financial future.
Steven Johnson was born and raised on a cattle and grain farm near Assaria, Kansas.
After graduating from Southeast Saline High School, Steven went on to study Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University, where he was elected Student Body President and graduated with honors. Steven began his career in the financial services sector while remaining involved in the family farm. He continued his education at the University of Chicago where he received a Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis in finance and business policy.
Steven’s financially-focused education was a valued tool in the financial services sector when he led the development of an asset allocation software program that calculated the highest return of investment for a particular need. His interest and expertise in financial issues during the economic downturn of 2008-09 was a catalyst in his decision to enter public service. Steven ran for the state legislature and was elected in 2010. His financial and agricultural background led to committee appointments including Chairman of the Tax Committee, Chairman of Insurance and Pensions Committee, and a member of committees including Appropriations and Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Steven continues to farm wheat, soybeans, corn and milo on the family farm. He is an active member of the Assaria Lutheran Church where he serves on the finance committee. Steven enjoys volunteering his time by offering investment advice to non-profit organizations.
Steven was elected the state’s 42nd state treasurer in 2022 and assumed office on January 9, 2023. Steven currently serves on the board of directors for the National Association of State Treasurers (NAST) and as Chair of the College Savings Plan Network (CSPN). Steven is committed to serving Kansas as both a reliable banker for state funds and a responsible fiduciary of invested dollars.
