Stories

Kansas Republican governor hopeful Ty Masterson has two jobs. He's currently President of the Kansas State Senate, and the Director of “GoCreate, a Koch Collaborative” at Wichita State University.

Masterson's primary rival in the gubernatorial primary is Republican entrepreneur Philip Sarnecki, who has raised the issue of Masterson's employment connections as a campaign concern.

Davina Hurt, director of government ethics says, Kansas voters deserve answers about Masterson’s two state paychecks and his relationship with the Kochs. “My question is whether a reasonable Kansas voter would remain confident that their decisions in Topeka are being made independently or wonder whether this decade-long relationship with a single donor network had some pull on them,” Hurt said. “Taking unpaid leave during a session is a real step, right? It deserves credit,” Hurt said. But it doesn’t answer questions about Masterson’s independence from political influence, she said.

“A decade of drawing a six-figure salary with a Koch-branded university program while also chairing a Koch-funded advocacy group nationally creates a pattern voters deserve to weigh as he asks them for the state’s highest office,” Hurt said. “It’s purely a public trust question.”

Davina Hurt, director, government ethics, quoted by The Wichita Eagle.