BY: ANNA KAMINSKI AND SHERMAN SMITH -
Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson’s ask for unity and civility turned into a warning Monday as he retained his title in an unopposed leadership election at the Kansas Statehouse.
As both parties elected the slate of leadership for the 2025 Legislature, Democrats prepared for a difficult session while Republicans emphasized a united front.
“What I ask is that we would treat each other with civility because that’s what brings the unity,” Masterson said. “So on the flipside of that ask is the warning, right? The warning — the kryptonite to that superpower of unity is the gossip circle, which is kind of the standard operating procedure in bodies of politic, right?”
Masterson’s nomination came from Sen. Rick Kloos, a Topeka Republican who was reelected as majority whip without opposition. Kloos said Masterson’s vision, strategy and hands-on approach made him the right person for the job. This will be Masterson’s second four-year term as Senate president.
Masterson, of Andover, requested his fellow legislators do their best to honor one another “in word and in deed.” Disagreement sells better in the news, he said.
Senate Republicans were fresh from an election that resulted in expanded supermajorities in both chambers. Democrats lost two seats in the November election, reducing their ranks from 11 to nine in the 40-member Senate. Calling themselves “the divine nine,” they retained Dinah Sykes, of Lenexa, as their minority leader.
Sykes said Democrats were prepared to resist Republican attempts to pass damaging policies. She predicted an effort to overhaul the way Kansas Supreme Court members are nominated, with a goal of overturning a 2019 ruling that secured the right to terminate a pregnancy in Kansas. Sykes also said Republicans would try to pass private school vouchers, and that she was concerned the majority party would reduce budgets for state agencies and services in order to support tax cuts that won’t be sustainable.
“I think we all have a more difficult session ahead of us,” Sykes told her caucus, “but we’ve been mighty, and we will continue that.”
Republicans elected to the majority leader seat Sen. Chase Blasi, a former Masterson chief of staff who was appointed to fill a vacancy in 2023. He defeated current Senate Majority Leader Larry Alley, of Winfield. Sen. J.R. Claeys of Salina nominated Blasi, describing him as a “trusted adviser.”
Sen. Tim Shallenburger, a longtime politician and 2002 GOP gubernatorial candidate, defeated Wichita Republican Sen. Renee Erickson for the Senate vice president seat. Erickson is the current assistant majority leader. Shallenburger was speaker of the House in the ’90s, the 36th state treasurer, and chair of the Kansas Republican Party from 2005 to 2007. Sen. Elaine Bowers nominated him on the premise that his institutional knowledge and experience set him apart, she said.
“What stands out to me about Senator Tim is his experience and deep understanding of Kansas history and its issues,” Bowers said.
Sen. Caryn Tyson, of Parker, clinched the assistant majority leader position with 23 votes to eight for Sen. Beverly Gossage, of Eudora. Sen. Mike Thompson, a Shawnee Republican who nominated her, cited her as a champion for collaboration and tax legislation.