Today must be the day for campaign announcements! We’ve had two on the Democratic side and now there’s a big one on the Republicans side:
AP – Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is launching a campaign to run for the U.S. Senate next year.
Kobach filed paperwork Monday with the Federal Election Commission forming a campaign committee. He scheduled a speech Monday afternoon in Leavenworth.
He is seeking the Republican nomination for four-term GOP Sen. Pat Roberts’ seat. Roberts is not seeking re-election in 2020.
As the AP reminds us, Kobach lost last year in his race for governor:
Some Republicans do not want Kobach to run for the Senate because he lost the governor’s race last year to Democrat Laura Kelly.
They also point out that this will be a very crowded race:
Kobach is joining a potentially crowded race. At least 16 prospective candidates have expressed an interest in running.
Sixteen? For a US Senate race? Wow.
Wikipedia says only three have declared thus far, with Kobach being one of them. Matt Schlapp is another big name Republican who has expressed interest in the race, but hasn’t declared.
Here’s the full list via Wikipedia:
Declared
- Jake LaTurner, State Treasurer
- Dave Lindstrom, board chairman for the Kansas Turnpike Authority, member of Johnson County Community College’s Board of Trustees, and former Kansas City Chiefs player
- Kris Kobach, former Secretary of State of Kansas, Republican nominee for Governor in 2018
Potential
- Alan Cobb, president of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce
- Jeff Colyer, former Governor of Kansas, former Lieutenant Governor of Kansas, former member of the Kansas Senate for Kansas’s 37th State Senate district and former member of the Kansas House of Representatives for Kansas’s 48th State House district
- Ron Estes, incumbent U.S. Representative for Kansas’s 4th congressional district and former Kansas State Treasurer[
- Wink Hartman, Republican nominee for Lieutenant Governor of Kansas in 2018
- Lynn Jenkins, former U.S. Representative for Kansas’s 2nd congressional district
- Roger Marshall, incumbent U.S. Representative for Kansas’s 1st congressional district
- Matt Schlapp, incumbent chairman of the American Conservative Union and former director of the Office of Political Affairs
- Derek Schmidt, incumbent Kansas Attorney General
- Scott Schwab, incumbent Kansas Secretary of State and former Speaker pro-tempore of the Kansas House of Representatives
- Todd Tiahrt, former U.S. Representative for Kansas’s 4th congressional district
- Susan Wagle, president of the Kansas Senate
- Kevin Yoder, former U.S. Representative for Kansas’s 3rd congressional district and former member of the Kansas House of Representatives for Kansas’s 20th State House district
Should be an interesting race to watch…