But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check

Cindy Holscher

Democrat · Governor, Kansas
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How this mark works

We track key votes on sending U.S. weapons and money to the government of Israel. A check means every tracked vote they cast came down against sending more, on the side of peace and de-escalation. A question mark means a mixed record: they sided with sending up to half of the time. An X means they voted to send more weapons and money in over half of their tracked votes, even as the way those weapons and dollars were being used became more and more obvious. At exactly half, money this election cycle from a lobbying group we track, or an endorsement from a group that backs sending weapons, makes it an X. Only votes actually cast are counted. Where a candidate has no recorded votes on these bills, the mark comes instead from a reviewed reading of their public record (money from the lobbying groups we track, endorsements, and their own words since January 26, 2024). There an X also covers fully backing the conduct of the war by the government of Israel without significant reservations, and a question mark also covers speaking about Israel without saying clearly where they stand on U.S. weapons and funding. A dash means No Position Found: we found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.

See a dash? Ask the candidate where they stand, then send us their answer and we'll review it and update the mark. Or volunteer to help review candidates.

No recorded votes on the bills we track. We found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.

Holscher sponsored a bill requiring Holocaust education in Kansas schools, which died in committee. Of a leaked Kansas Young Republicans chat she said "These weren’t just kids joking around." We found nothing from her on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, or U.S. aid to Palestinians.

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Deep Dive

Holscher, a state senator from Johnson County since 2021, won the Democratic nomination for governor on August 4, 2026 and faces Senate President Ty Masterson in November. Her campaign runs on the cost of living, public education, a data-center moratorium and marijuana legalization; foreign policy is not part of it.

In January 2026 she introduced Senate Bill 420, which would have required school districts to teach Holocaust education and awareness in grades six through twelve as part of social studies. It was referred to the Education Committee and died there in April. In October 2025, after a Kansas Young Republicans group chat reported to contain racist and antisemitic messages was made public and the state party shut the group down, she appeared with faith leaders in Topeka and told WIBW: "These weren’t just kids joking around. These were adults, 20 and 30-somethings. People in leadership roles who know better," adding that the group's chair "is nearly 30 years old."

Neither concerns U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel. Nothing located from her addresses that question or U.S. aid to Palestinians, and those decisions sit outside the governor's office. You are better placed to change that than we are: ask Holscher directly, or at a candidate forum, and send us the reply. It goes on this page in her own words.

In their words

“These weren’t just kids joking around. These were adults, 20 and 30-somethings. People in leadership roles who know better,”
Source ↗, 2025-10-17
“And the chair of the Kansas Young Republicans who participated in some of this messaging is nearly 30 years old. Again, these are people who knew exactly what they were saying.”
Source ↗, 2025-10-17

Research log

The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.

Every page cited below was opened and read on 2026-09-03 unless marked otherwise. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated.

U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel

  • Nothing located. No statement, platform line or interview answer by Cindy Holscher on U.S. military aid or weapons for the government of Israel was found.
  • [Position, read 2026-09-03] Her campaign site was read on four pages: homepage (cost of living, working families, public education, data-center moratorium, Social Security and Medicare, marijuana legalization, bipartisanship), about, issues (formerly at /priorities/) and news (two press releases: her August 4, 2026 nomination and Gov. Laura Kelly's August 5 endorsement). No page mentions Israel, Gaza, Palestinians, foreign aid or foreign policy. The issues page, read again on 2026-09-25, still does not.
  • [Undated; 2020 profile] iVoterGuide's profile for her 2020 state Senate race shows "Did not answer" against every question, including "Is the United States' relationship with Israel important, and if so why?" (iVoterGuide, 2020 state Senate profile). Her 2026 governor profile carries no questionnaire at all. A wall of unanswered questions is a fact about the guide's coverage, not a position; not used on the card.
  • [Position, 2026-08-05] Middle East Eye's round-up of the August 4 primaries says the Kansas race was "not solely focused on foreign policy" and names Holscher and Masterson as the nominees without attributing any Israel position to her (Middle East Eye). Third party; no words of hers.

U.S. aid to Palestinians

  • Nothing located on UNRWA, Gaza humanitarian funding or the aid pipeline.

Characterization of the conflict

  • Nothing located from Holscher characterizing the conflict.

Related rhetoric and lobbying

  • Nothing located: no statement on lobbying organizations, endorsements sought or refused, or anti-boycott legislation.

Safety and antisemitism (context, not a position on what America sends)

  • [Position, 2026-01-29] Senate Bill 420, "enacting the Holocaust education act to require school districts to provide instruction on Holocaust education and awareness as part of the social studies curriculum for students in grades six through 12." Original and current sponsor: Sen. Cindy Holscher. Introduced 2026-01-29; referred to the Committee on Education 2026-01-30; died in committee (session date 2026-04-10) (Kansas Legislature bill page; history dates from the legislature's public bill-status API for SB420, read 2026-09-03).
  • [Position, 2025-10-17] WIBW, Topeka: "Faith leaders speaking with Kansas gubernatorial candidate Cindy Holscher said the conversations show more than harmless chatter." Holscher: "These weren’t just kids joking around. These were adults, 20 and 30-somethings. People in leadership roles who know better," and, in a separate sentence the report attributes to her: "And the chair of the Kansas Young Republicans who participated in some of this messaging is nearly 30 years old. Again, these are people who knew exactly what they were saying." The same report says the Kansas GOP chair shut the group down and quotes Rabbi Mark Levin of Congregation Beth Torah alongside her (WIBW, published Oct. 17, 2025).
  • [Position, 2025-10-16; reported, source not read directly] Missourinet, quoting the Kansas Reflector, reports Holscher saying many of the Kansas Young Republicans in the chats "were 20- and 30-something adults with leadership roles in the Republican Party." Neither the Missourinet page nor the Kansas Reflector article of 2025-10-14 could be read in full. Addresses: https://www.missourinet.com/2025/10/16/missouri-young-republicans-condemn-kansas-counterparts-for-abhorrent-and-disgraceful-comments/ and https://kansasreflector.com/2025/10/14/kansas-young-republicans-shut-down-after-politico-report-on-racist-violent-encrypted-chat/ . Reported wording; not quoted on the card.
  • [Position, 2025-10-15] A campaign video post on the leaked messages: "Kansas Republican operatives were just exposed sending racist and extremist text messages" and "The extremism must end and we have to fight back." It does not mention antisemitism, Israel or Gaza.
  • Four further items were reported from Facebook posts that do not open; none could be verified, and one appears to belong to another person:

- "June 3, 2021: Holscher joined a bipartisan, bistate, multiracial, interfaith group of faith, civic, and political leaders to make it clear that antisemitism has no place in our community." Cited to a Facebook post on the page ethanforkansas (does not open; its address does not name her). Unverified. - "November 21, 2024: Holscher announced via social media that she was introducing the Holocaust Education Act." Cited to a KSAL radio Facebook post about a Wichita Holocaust memorial (does not open; does not name her). Unverified as to the 2024 announcement; the bill itself is verified above as SB 420, introduced January 2026. - "May 23, 2025: statement mourning Sarah Milgrim, calling her death a devastating loss for us all." Cited to a WVTM13 Facebook post (does not open; does not name her). Unverified. - "January 27, 2026: we honor the six million Jewish lives stolen in the Holocaust and recommit ourselves to confronting antisemitism wherever it appears." Cited three times to a Facebook post on the page RepDavids, whose address reproduces that sentence. RepDavids is Rep. Sharice Davids's page, not Holscher's. Treated as another person's words; excluded.

Earlier finding, preserved

  • Checked 2026-07-18: "checked campaign site and news; no stance found on sending weapons/money to Israel." (That note pointed at a search-results page, so it is recorded without a link.)

Not on the card, and why

  • The Holocaust education bill and the October 2025 remarks lead the front because a governor card leads with what the candidate has said or done, and these are her only located acts near this subject. Both are safety and antisemitism context; neither is a position on U.S. weapons or money, and the front says so.
  • Missourinet/Kansas Reflector wording: not read in full; research page only.
  • The four further items above: unverifiable sources that do not name her; one attributed to another officeholder. Not on the card summary.
  • iVoterGuide "Did not answer": guide coverage, not a position (questionnaire test).
  • The card does not label the group chat; it describes what was reported and quotes her.

Sources retrieved for this card (URL, HTTP status, date read)

  • https://www.kslegislature.gov/li/b2025_26/measures/sb420/ (200, 2026-09-03) and the legislature's bill_status API for SB420 (200, 2026-09-03)
  • https://www.wibw.com/2025/10/18/lawmakers-urge-gop-leaders-condemn-young-republican-group-chat-comments/ (200, 2026-09-03; published 2025-10-17)
  • https://cindyforkansas.com/ (200), https://cindyforkansas.com/about/ (200), https://cindyforkansas.com/priorities/ (200; since moved to https://cindyforkansas.com/issues/, read 2026-09-25), https://cindyforkansas.com/news/ (200), all 2026-09-03; https://cindyforkansas.com/news/page/2/ (404, 2026-09-25)
  • https://ivoterguide.com/candidate/48594/race/11703/election/1246?culture=en-us (200, 2026-09-03); https://ivoterguide.com/candidate/48594/race/31723/election/1468?culture=en-us (200, 2026-09-03; no questionnaire)
  • https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/michigan-missouri-democratic-primaries-deliver-mixed-bag-israel-and-gaza (200, 2026-09-03; published 2026-08-05)
  • https://www.missourinet.com/2025/10/16/missouri-young-republicans-condemn-kansas-counterparts-for-abhorrent-and-disgraceful-comments/ (403 direct; not read in full, 2026-09-03)
  • https://kansasreflector.com/2025/10/14/kansas-young-republicans-shut-down-after-politico-report-on-racist-violent-encrypted-chat/ (403, 2026-09-03)
  • https://ballotpedia.org/Cindy_Holscher (200, 2026-09-03; identity; no Israel content)
  • https://www.facebook.com/cindyforkansas/videos/-tw-racist-graphic-language-kansas-republican-operatives-were-just-exposed-sendi/738777439212247/ (opened 2026-09-25; dated October 15, 2025; the earlier post address, cindyforkansas post 1255976292999852, now leads to it)
  • Facebook sources, all HTTP 400: ethanforkansas post 530571071658134; KSAL1150 post 1129084672555478; WVTM13 post 1087481223427180; RepDavids post 1422611872562645; TopekaCapitalJournal post 1682736730522518; hartfordcourant post 1215754093915763
  • Also found, not read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Holscher ; https://ballotpedia.org/Kansas_gubernatorial_and_lieutenant_gubernatorial_election,_2026 ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkZavxnw7rc (video, not text-verifiable)

Also in this race

  1. ? Ty Masterson (Republican)

All Kansas candidates.

But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Every claim on this page goes through at least two verification steps. Open Find Your Candidates for votes, funding and contact details.