President Trump has nominated former Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer to serve as U.S. ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, elevating the Johnson County surgeon to a diplomatic post months after he abandoned his own campaign to reclaim the governor's mansion. The nomination, announced Monday, caps a political year in which Colyer stepped aside from the 2026 Kansas governor's race rather than challenge Trump's chosen candidate.
Colyer, 66, had campaigned for governor through the spring but chose not to file as a candidate in June, according to a report from the Kansas Reflector. At the time, Trump had already thrown his support behind Senate President Ty Masterson in the Republican primary, and Colyer told supporters, “I shall not be a candidate for governor in 2026,” per the Kansas City Star. Colyer went on to endorse Masterson before the primary, a move the Reflector's report says helped clear an easier path for Masterson to win the Republican nomination in August.
The UAE post has sat empty for more than a year. The National reports the post has been without a confirmed U.S. ambassador since The National says Martina Strong departed in August 2025, and the outlet notes Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq also remain without confirmed U.S. ambassadors under the current administration.
A Surgeon's Path Back to Public Service
Colyer's resume blends medicine and politics in a way few Kansas governors can match. His professional career has been as a surgeon in Johnson County, and he has also worked as a medical volunteer in conflict zones with the International Medical Corps, the Reflector's report notes. Colyer previously served as the state's lieutenant governor until January 2018, when then-Gov. Sam Brownback resigned to become Trump's ambassador for international religious freedom — the same pathway from Topeka to a diplomatic post that Colyer now follows.
That earlier transition wasn't smooth for Brownback in the Senate: the vote on his nomination was tied 49-49, and Vice President Mike Pence had to cast the deciding vote, the same Reflector report recounts. Colyer was sworn in as governor after Brownback's departure but narrowly lost the August 2018 GOP gubernatorial primary to Kris Kobach, who then lost the general election to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, per that outlet's account.
Moran Pledges Support Through Confirmation
Sen. Jerry Moran has already signaled he'll back Colyer through what is expected to be a Senate confirmation process. “I am confident he will represent our country well on the world stage,” Moran said, according to the Kansas Reflector's report, which also quotes him praising Colyer's “record of public service, principled leadership and commitment to improving lives.”
Colyer chaired Trump's 2024 campaign operation in Kansas, a role the Kansas City Star's earlier report on his campaign exit had flagged as central to his standing with the president's political operation. Whether that loyalty will carry weight once his nomination reaches the Senate floor remains to be seen, since the evidence reviewed does not establish any confirmation hearing date or outcome.
Kansas Governor's Race Still Unresolved
Colyer's exit from the governor's race hasn't settled the contest he once hoped to win back. Democrat Cindy Holscher has held a narrow lead over Masterson in the aftermath of Election Day, with that advantage growing over the following week as postmarked mail ballots arrived. The Kansas Reflector reported Holscher's margin stood at 0.64% as of 7 p.m. the Wednesday after the election — just inside the 1% threshold that triggers a mandatory close-race audit — with her lead at 549,974 votes to Masterson's 542,929, a gap of 7,045 votes.
A separate count from the Iola Register, taken after counted Election Day and advance votes and mail-in ballots were included, put Holscher's total at 551,243 votes against Masterson's 543,599 — a difference of 7,644 votes. The two tallies don't match exactly, and the certified result has not been established; counties across the state have begun auditing and certifying results from the election, the Iola Register reported.
For now, Colyer appears to be looking past Topeka entirely. The UAE relationship stretches back to the country's founding in 1971, and Washington's diplomatic ties there have only deepened in recent years — the Kansas City Star's reporting on the broader nomination cites the UAE's designation as a major defense partner, a status that allows close military cooperation between the two nations. Colyer's nomination still requires legislative confirmation by the U.S. Senate before he can take up the post.
