By Henry McClure | June 2026
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about why business experience is so valuable in government. The core idea was simple: when people have actually built companies, met payrolls, created real value for customers, and faced real consequences for failure, they bring a different, more rational mindset to public service. They focus on results, efficiency, return on investment, and growth instead of just protecting the system or getting re-elected.
Let’s apply that same lens to the race for Kansas governor.
I believe Philip Sarnecki would be a stronger governor than Ty Masterson precisely because of his deep, successful business experience. And while I respect President Trump, I don't respect his endorsement of Ty Masterson, and I’m disappointed. Sarnecki is far closer to the kind of outsider businessman Trump himself asked us to support back in 2015 and 2016 — someone who built something real from the ground up, not another politician who has climbed the ladder inside the system for two decades.
The Same Theory, Now for All of Kansas
Kansas faces real challenges. Our population growth has been slower than the national average. We’ve seen net domestic outmigration in recent years. Economic performance rankings lag behind our potential, even as our outlook has improved somewhat thanks to recent reforms. Too many young people and families still leave for better opportunities elsewhere. Property taxes, regulations, and the overall cost of doing business and raising a family can feel heavy.
These aren’t abstract problems. They affect real people in Topeka, Shawnee County, and across the state who want their kids and grandkids to be able to build good lives here.
The solution isn’t more of the same political management. It’s bringing the same kind of practical, results-driven thinking that works in successful businesses. That’s exactly what Philip Sarnecki offers.
Philip Sarnecki: A Kansas Business Builder With a Real Track Record
Sarnecki rose from humble beginnings — the son of a janitor and a secretary — to build one of the largest financial services firms in the country. He founded and led RPS Financial Group, growing it to 18 offices (12 in Kansas), serving clients in all 50 states, managing over $10 billion in assets under management in Kansas alone, and paying out more than $135 million in dividends to Kansas families and businesses in its final year under his ownership.
He later sold the company successfully. Today he owns and operates multiple businesses across Kansas and beyond — including being the largest franchise owner of Strickland Brothers 10 Minute Oil Change with locations in towns like Andover, El Dorado, Derby, Pittsburg, Fort Scott, and Independence. Altogether, his companies employ nearly 1,000 people. He’s created jobs, served Kansas families directly, and generated real economic activity in communities big and small.
He’s never held elected office. He’s a true outsider who says plainly: “Like President Trump, I’ve never run for office before, but I’ve built a great, successful business. It’s time to bring a business approach to government and shake up the system. We have got to get away from the career politician mindset.”
His platform focuses on exactly the things that flow from real business experience: shredding red tape so small businesses can grow, lowering taxes for families and employers, creating good-paying jobs, bringing accountability to how government spends money, and making sure our kids have reasons to stay and build their futures in Kansas.
Ty Masterson: Long Political Experience, Smaller Business Footprint
Ty Masterson has served in the Kansas Legislature for over 20 years — first in the House, then the Senate since 2009, and as Senate President since 2021. He has deep knowledge of how the legislative process works and a conservative record that President Trump praised when he endorsed him. Masterson also has a background as a small business owner (realtor and construction), which is more private-sector experience than many career politicians.
However, that construction business ultimately failed, leading to a bankruptcy filing in 2011. His primary career has been in elected office and legislative leadership in Topeka. That gives him strengths in relationships, process, and passing conservative legislation — but it also makes him part of the very insider system that too often protects itself rather than delivering bold results for working Kansans.
This is the contrast the business-experience theory highlights. One candidate scaled a major financial services company that directly served and enriched thousands of Kansas families and then built additional job-creating businesses across the state. The other has spent most of his adult life inside government.
Why Trump’s Endorsement Missed the Mark Here
I understand why President Trump endorsed Ty Masterson. He values strong conservative leadership on taxes, regulation, energy, agriculture, border security, and fighting the radical policies coming out of the current administration. Masterson has been part of advancing some of those priorities in the Senate.
But Trump’s own 2015-2016 appeal was built on being the successful businessman outsider who would shake up a broken system in Washington. Philip Sarnecki is running on that same promise at the state level: “I’m just a Kansas dad, husband and businessman who is tired of Republicans losing in Kansas… We’re going to win and we’re going to win big.”
When the choice is between a proven large-scale job creator and business scaler versus a long-time legislative leader, the business-experience argument points clearly toward Sarnecki if we actually want different outcomes — faster job growth, lower burdens on families, more opportunity so people stay in Kansas, and government that operates with real accountability instead of just managing the status quo.
Let’s Keep It Simple for Voters
If your family or business is feeling the weight of taxes, regulations, or limited opportunity, or if you’re worried your kids might have to leave Kansas to get ahead, this race matters.
Think of it like hiring for an important job. Would you rather give the role to the person who has spent 20 years inside the same organization learning its rules and relationships, or the person who has repeatedly built successful operations from scratch, created hundreds of jobs, and delivered measurable value to thousands of customers?
Kansas is that organization right now. We need someone who knows how to grow the enterprise, cut what isn’t working, and create the conditions for success — not just someone skilled at navigating the existing system.
Philip Sarnecki has done the first in the private sector on a meaningful scale. He wants to bring that same approach to state government.
The Stakes for Kansas Families
We’ve seen some positive movement in Kansas’s economic outlook rankings thanks to recent reforms. But our actual performance on population retention, employment growth, and domestic migration still shows we have a long way to go if we want Kansas to be a place where families thrive and young people choose to stay.
Philip Sarnecki’s entire message is about changing that trajectory: lower taxes, less red tape, more jobs, more opportunity, and government that works like the successful businesses he has built. That’s the practical path to a stronger Kansas where more people can afford to live, work, and raise their families here.
I’ve spent decades in real estate and development watching how government decisions either help or hinder real economic activity on the ground. The difference between insiders managing the system and outsiders who have actually built things is often the difference between slow incremental change and real turnaround.
Kansas has the potential to win big. Philip Sarnecki is offering to bring the mindset and record that actually wins in the real economy.
If you agree that Kansas needs more business-style results and less career politics, I encourage you to take a close look at Philip Sarnecki in the August Republican primary.
What do you think? Have you followed this race? Do rising costs or limited local opportunity affect your family or community? Let’s discuss in the comments.
