>> Continued From the Previous Page <<
“Our campaign has raised the most money in Kansas gubernatorial history, and we did it in far less time than every other Republican candidate in the field,” Sarnecki said in a statement. “There’s an incredible energy around our campaign. Kansans are tired of losing and they’re tired of career politicians.”
He didn’t stop there.
“Kansans are hungry for a business leader and an outsider — someone like President Trump — to win this race. The support we’ve received across Kansas proves that to be true. We’re just getting started. It’s our time to win,” Sarnecki added.
Sarnecki, the president of RPS Financial Group, has framed his campaign as a direct challenge to what he describes as the entrenched political class in Topeka. His message is unapologetically populist: lower taxes, fewer regulations, and a government that works for families and small businesses instead of bureaucrats and special interests.
Education reform also sits at the center of his platform, with an emphasis on parental rights, school choice, and accountability — issues that have energized conservative voters nationwide.
Political observers say Sarnecki’s sudden rise feels eerily familiar. Many are drawing parallels to the political earthquake triggered by Donald Trump in 2016, when an outsider candidate tapped into widespread frustration with establishment politicians and rewrote the rules of campaigning.
That comparison has not gone unnoticed inside Republican circles.
Republican strategist Matt Schlapp, a Kansas native and former Trump aide, said Sarnecki “represents the political energy of the post-Trump GOP — unapologetically outsider, entrepreneurial, and blunt about cutting bureaucracy.”
Sarnecki’s ascent comes at a moment of stark contrast in Kansas politics. Just days ago, Gov. Laura Kelly delivered her final State of the State address, urging lawmakers and voters to reject confrontation and continue what she called a tradition of bipartisan governance.
“I’m here because Kansans were looking for someone who would turn the volume down, to do more listening than yelling, to bring people together, to compromise and govern from the middle,” Kelly told a joint session of the Legislature. “Kansans are the most civil, decent people on earth. And they expect that from us, too.”
With term limits preventing her from seeking reelection, Kelly warned that rising political tensions could undo what she described as progress made during her administration. She highlighted bipartisan achievements, including the passage of 587 bills and a high-profile agreement to bring a Kansas City Chiefs stadium to Wyandotte County.
“To land the Chiefs, we all put politics aside,” Kelly said. “We all put personal differences aside. And we didn’t care who got the credit.”
While Sarnecki has spoken favorably about the Chiefs deal, his campaign has openly rejected Kelly’s calls for moderation. Allies say voters are no longer interested in lowering the temperature — they want results.
Sarnecki’s slogan, “It’s Time to Win Again,” is a clear signal of that approach. Rather than consensus politics, he is pitching himself as a fighter willing to challenge the status quo and take on both Democrats and establishment Republicans.
With unprecedented fundraising, growing grassroots enthusiasm, and a message resonating with an increasingly restless GOP base, Sarnecki has rapidly become the Republican candidate to watch. As Kansas heads toward what could be one of the most consequential governor’s races in decades, the battle lines are already being drawn — outsider versus establishment, fighter versus mediator, and a political future that looks anything but predictable.
