I felt all along the braid and can’t feel any bumps like a fuse. I measure 8-12 kOhm across the temp sensor

Why do you think that they mounted the red cable inside another white sleeve and clamped it to the metal chassis?
I am 100% certain that there is a thermal cut-off fuse inside.

If you can get electrical access at the two ends of the red cabling, then measure the resistance across and you will find that it is open circuited if the fuse is blown.

However, having said that, 8-12k ohm across the temp sensor means that the sensor is bad. The sensor should either be open or closed. Try cleaning the contacts if you can access them.

A quick test would be to jumper across the sensor (and the fuse if it is open circuited).

 

Unplug the unit from power source.
Measure for conductivity across this switch. It looks like a thermostat.

Also measure across the thermal cut-off fuse inside the white high temperature braid.

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ha I missed the second half of your comment earlier. Sure enough you were right, the fuse has blown. I put a temporary jumper across it and the unit powered up!

winner winner!

now I need to figure out how to find a replacement. If it had any markings on it they are pretty faint now and my eyes aren’t great.

 

See if you can get a closeup of the writing on the fuse. It will show the temperature trip point.
For example, this one blows above 113°C.

 

I pulled out my 10x magnifier and it looks like 128C. Other comments online seem to support that as well.