Season of the witch: Kansas Republicans party through the midterms like its 1692

Kansas Republicans are going medieval on Democrats this spooky season.

From gubernatorial candidate Ty Masterson hurling allegations of witchcraft to the Kansas Republican Party deciding to spread the biblical “truth” about homosexuality (think Sodom and Gomorrah), the Grand Old Party has time traveled back hundreds of years. All they need to do now is stock up on scarlet letter “A”s to stitch on divorcees.

Meanwhile, some GOP appointees haven’t gotten the memo and are busy bearing false witness, but we’ll get to them in time.

Let’s check in first on Masterson, the Andover Republican who’s running for governor against state Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat. According to reporting from the New Republic, he spoke Oct. 11 at Wichita’s Praise Chapel.

“God’s armies are out there in this,” Masterson told the crowd. “What we’re fighting right now is a spiritual battle that I’ve never seen before.”

He continued: “Evil is maturing with the brotherhood, and it is rising to a level that is just in your face. Really, my race and the U.S. Senate race with Roger Marshall versus (Adam) Hamilton. Those are spiritual battles.”

“Like I said,” he added, “my opponent, she didn’t even hide it. She talked — they had witch — I mean, they’re doing like witchcraft spells on TikTok so she can win the governorship. I mean, they’re like … it’s like demonic stuff that they’re doing, right? Just in your face that way.”

Holscher’s campaign lampooned Masterson for suggesting that posting a viral video equated to evil spell-casting.

But his words have a specific meaning to evangelical believers, as does his entire presentation in the church. Back in January, Masterson invited the Rev. Kyle Lammott to the Senate, where the Wichita pastor delivered a fire-and-brimstone prayer.

“Your word declares, ‘Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.’ Lord, we confess and ask your forgiveness,” he said. “We have called the murder of the unborn good. We have called the mockery of your truth good. We have called injustice toward evil good. We have called the distortion of marriage and gender good. Forgive us, O Lord, and grant repentance for the wicked laws passed in our land.”

If all this talk of witchery and wickedness doesn’t get you in the Halloween spirit, I don’t know what will.

I’ll also note, as long as Masterson seems intent on rounding people up for an inquisition, that I’ve been trying to put a hex on political stupidity through this column for the past five years. I’m not sure how well it’s been working, but I guess I’ll have to keep trying.

Next up: The Kansas GOP has decided to get into the scriptural interpretation business.

It posted the following to Facebook late last week: “Adam Hamilton is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. He wears the title of pastor while defending the killing of the unborn and celebrating the abandonment of biblical teaching on homosexuality. He has taught that people can be saved without faith in Christ and that Scripture contains errors. Hundreds of pastors have publicly called him to repent and get out of this race.

“Do not be fooled by the clerical collar, the soft tone, or the ‘moderate’ branding. This is the same man who has spent years undermining the authority of Scripture and the clear witness of the church on life and marriage. Giving him a Senate seat hands power to someone who has already rejected God’s design in the very areas that matter most.”

Much comes to mind after reading those words. Mainly, I wonder how the gay Republicans in Kansas feel to have the state party deny their humanity. But then, those same gay Republicans have stayed put despite a party platform condemning same-sex marriage.

I’d laugh and think it was funny if they didn’t want to divorce me from my husband of 25 years and take away my kid.

But hey, I’m not sticking to the proper light tone here. Let’s get back into the spooky spirit.

For that, I’ll turn to the Wichita Eagle’s Chance Swaim, who reported earlier this month that federal officials had been caught playing a particularly brutal and nasty game of trick or treat.

“As reports rolled in last month about ICE agents patrolling southwest Kansas in unmarked vans, pulling over U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike and demanding to see their papers, two Trump administration officials sprang into action: They issued statements that falsely identified five ‘criminal aliens’ who had been arrested during the operation,” Swaim wrote, referring to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas Ryan Kriegshauser.

That was, in fact, a lie.

“None of the five people — whose criminal records included murder, rape and kidnapping — was arrested in what officials called Operation Safe Community – Kansas, a mass deportation roundup focused on Dodge City, Garden City and Liberal, a Wichita Eagle investigation found,” he wrote.

The five criminals had been nabbed earlier, by local law enforcement, and deported through the usual means. Officials corrected the record, but silently and without telling anyone about it.

Immigration enforcers still whipped up panic and made arrests throughout western Kansas in late September — after the “worst of the worst” had already been put away. They just wanted to spread fear for the fun of it.

Whether you love or hate Halloween, it does end end with the dawning of Nov. 1. One hopes that Kansas Republicans’ enthusiasm for the Middle Ages similarly wanes with the arrival of Election Day.

Donovan VEVO

Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. His first book, “Opinionated: Kansas Journalists Who Proved Why Commentary Matters — Then and Now,” was published in September 2026 by the University Press of Kansas. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.