By Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector
TOPEKA — Johnson County Sen. Ethan Corson’s Democratic campaign for governor turned Wednesday to a running mate with central and western Kansas roots and experience promoting economic and workforce development.
Corson, who was endorsed by Gov. Laura Kelly and former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, said his running mate would be Renee Duxler, who has served as president and CEO of the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce since 2023. The announcement was among a wave of running mate disclosures before the June 1 candidate filing deadline.
In addition to work at the business organization, much of Duxler’s career has involved serving needs of children with developmental disabilities, survivors of domestic violence, patients taking part in hospice and families navigating challenges with healthcare.
“Renee understands that government decisions are not abstract debates,” Corson said. “They shape whether families can afford care, whether kids have strong schools and whether working people have a real shot at getting ahead. I know Kansans will see what I saw right away, someone who understands their lives, shares their hopes for this state and brings a deep personal commitment to the issues Kansas families care about most.”
Corson said Duxler was a solid choice because her professional experiences grounded her in a culture of accountability and compassion.
“She’s the kind of leader who has seen both the consequences of failure and the power of effective leadership,” Corson said.
Duxler, 46, and Corson, 43, plan to embark on a “Next Generation Kansas Tour” over the next few days with campaign stops in Sedgwick, Saline, Johnson and Crawford counties. So far, Corson has put 21,000 miles on his vehicle in the campaign and been to 52 cities in 42 counties.
“I’m honored to join this ticket,” Duxler said. “Not just as Ethan’s running mate, but as someone who shares his belief that Kansas is at its best when we meet this moment in our state’s history not with fear, but with hope. Not with the same old politics, but with the courage to build something better together.”
“The future is not something that happens to us,” she said. “It is something we choose, something we shape and something we owe to the next generation.
Corson said that continuing leadership demonstrated by Kelly included support for expansion of eligibility for Medicaid to the working poor, fully funding K-12 public schools, protecting reproductive rights and fighting “every single time” there was evidence that overreaches by President Donald Trump harmed Kansans.
Eleven weeks remain before the Aug. 4 primary in which voters nominate Republican and Democratic candidates for the November general election campaign. Corson’s rival in the Democratic primary is state Sen. Cindy Holscher, an Overland Park Democrat.
Duxler, a lifelong Kansan, was raised in Hays and McPherson. Her mother was a secretary and her father a union oil refinery employee. Duxler got her first job at age 14 and worked through high school and college. She earned a bachelor’s degree in social work at Kansas State University while working multiple jobs. She earned a master’s degree in social work at Newman University in Wichita.
She was an 18-year resident of Wichita, where she worked at an HIV/AIDS clinic and eventually owned a designer resale clothing store. She was executive director of Douglas Design District and a member of the Wichita/Sedgwick County Metropolitan Planning Commission.
In 2020, Duxler and her family moved to Salina after she accepted a job as economic and workforce development director with the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce. Three years later, she became the first woman to lead the Salina business organization in its 115-year history.
