By Mia Hennen
After hinting for weeks about running for office, Jeff Colyer formally entered Kansas’ 2026 gubernatorial race.
One of his priorities so far? Affiliating himself with President Donald Trump.
“President Trump was president number 45 and 47; he is proving the point that when you successfully have done the job and then leave office and reflect on it for a couple of years, when you come back, you can do more than anyone else in a very short period of time,” Colyer, a Republican, said at a rally on Thursday afternoon in Wichita.
Colyer compared Trump’s journey to his own. In 2018, Colyer served as governor, following the resignation of former Gov. Sam Brownback, who left to be an ambassador in the first Trump administration.
“In my case, I would be (governor) numbers 47 and 49,” Colyer said. “… I’ve done the job. I have a proven record, proven conservative results.”
This is Colyer’s third bid for governor. After serving as governor for a year in 2018, he ran again but lost to then-Secretary of State Kris Kobach in the Republican primary. Then, in 2022, he dropped out of the race after receiving a prostate cancer diagnosis.
Colyer, who is a plastic surgeon, said his experience with cancer humbled him.
“Fortunately, my treatment was successful, and as we surgeons say, the chance to cut is the chance to cure,” he said.
The Hays native tied his career as a surgeon to his political beliefs: He aims to cut government inefficiencies and spending.
“(As governor) I held the line on taxes, including property taxes,” Colyer said. “I ended 50 years of litigation over our schools that had eluded over a dozen governors. And how did I do it? I did it with conservative principles.”
At the rally, Kansas House Rep. Susan Estes of Wichita said Colyer prioritizes efficiency.
“Government is expensive, very, very expensive,” Estes said. “And you really have to set priorities, and you have to have the kind of mind that lets you get creative and say, ‘If I do this a different way, we’re going to save money.'”
Aside from reducing government spending, Colyer said he wants to:
- Cut taxes
- Bolster small businesses
- Protect farmers
- Secure the border and deport undocumented immigrants who are criminals
- Prevent gender-affirming care for minors
- Bring high-paying tech and manufacturing jobs to Kansas
Colyer joins a crowded room of Republicans running for governor. Secretary of State Scott Schwab, conservative podcaster Doug Billings, Wichitan Stacy Rogers and former Johnson County commissioner Charlotte O’Hara are also running.
Currently, there are no Democratic candidates.
Mia Hennen is a news lab intern for KMUW. They also work at Wichita State University’s student newspaper, The Sunflower, where they report on various campus activities and news.
