Posted on 09/04/2014 2:09:37 PM PDT by Second Amendment First
In a boost for Republicans and Kansas GOP Sen. Pat Roberts, the Democrat who attempted Wednesday to drop out of the three-way Senate race must remain on the ballot, the state’s top election official ruled Thursday.
Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Republican who endorsed Roberts during the primary, argued that Democratic nominee Chad Taylor failed to declare that he would be unable to perform the job if elected, a requirement of Kansas law.
Taylor’s withdrawal letter cited that law but didn’t explicitly reference any reason for his decision.
“The law is quite clear on this,” said Kobach. “Those words have to be given meaning, and that is what we’re doing.”
(Also on POLITICO: DNC chief walks back Walker 'words')
The decision could undermine efforts to unseat Roberts and potentially rewrite the narrative of the 2014 midterms. It’s certain to anger Democrats, who were hopeful that their candidate’s exit from the race would clear a path for independent Greg Orman to challenge Roberts one on one. Recent polls showed Orman ahead of Roberts in a head-to-head race.
It’s unclear whether Democrats will challenge the decision. The state party has declined repeated requests for comment.
As Kobach prepared to announce his decision, Taylor released a statement indicating he was led to believe by Kobach’s office that he had taken the necessary legal steps to withdraw from the campaign.
“Upon confirming that my letter would remove my name from the ballot, I presented identification, signed the notary ledger, and signed the letter before a Secretary of State employee notarized it,” Taylor said Thursday. “I again confirmed with [a senior Kobach aide] that this notarized letter removed my name from the ballot. He again said ‘Yes.’ My candidacy in this race was terminated yesterday.”
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Kobach’s decision comes a day after Taylor’s abrupt withdrawal, announced minutes before a statutory deadline. The announcement immediately heartened some national Democrats, who know that a Roberts loss would cut into Republicans’ calculus for retaking the Senate — especially since Orman says he’s open to caucusing with either party.
National Republicans, spooked by Taylor’s withdrawal, responded by taking a more muscular role in Roberts’ campaign. Chris LaCivita, a prominent GOP consultant, has been tapped to help steer the campaign through this uncertain period. The news, first reported by The New York Times, comes as Republicans worry about having to expend resources in a contest once considered safe.
Republicans had been prepared to fight to keep Taylor on the ballot if Kobach had made a different decision, said Clayton Barker, general counsel for the state GOP.
“We’ve never seen something like this,” Barker said.
Taylor’s decision to drop out of the Senate race is still a political mystery, but it came after at least one conversation with an out-of-state Democrat: Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has denied involvement in the decision, but a McCaskill aide confirmed that she talked to Taylor.
“She thinks very highly of him and thinks he has a bright political future. And she knows these decisions are both hard and personal,” the aide said. “But we won’t be going into detail about what they discussed.”
Neither the aide nor officials at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee responded to questions about whether McCaskill lobbied Taylor at the committee’s request.
There's still plenty of time for some liberal black-robed legislator to be found who will make it legal to take him off the ballot and put someone else on.
The problem isn’t the particular Democrat on the ballot. The problem is explaining to their legions of brain-dead zombie voters that they have to vote for somebody who doesn’t have the “D” after their name.
Politico must be so sad. They were all pumped up yesterday, saying this could be the sleeper that saves the Dems.
Yes, a straight party vote will kill them!
Yes, and they are still running that headline on Yahoo, but neglect to say that the Democrat has to stay on the ballot.
You can count on it. Without any doubt, that is what is going to happen.
That's the last thing that Democrats want. This little plan was cooked up by Taylor and Orman, apparently with Claire McCaskill in the mix, to have no Democrat on the ballot, If the Easter Bunny's name is on the Democrat line, more than half of Wyandotte County will vote for him. The only way that this scheme works is for no Democrat to be on the ballot. Orman figures that will give him the Liberal Republicans, the Independents, and the Democrats - probably a winning combination. Of course Orman is no idenpendent, he is a Liberal Democrat and he is just counting on fooling lots of voters.
However, state law also requires that if a withdrawal is allowed, a replacement will be named. Expect the Democrat leadership to decamp to Las Vegas if it comes to that.
I think that Kobach is on pretty firm ground with his ruling. As I understand it, the law requires a reason that the candidate would be UNABLE to serve, not unwilling to run. Sure the Democrats can court-shop and try to get this overruled but it’s going to take a huge partisan to buy their argument. Might not be that easy to find.
It's pretty clear to me, that's Kobach job and it sounds like he's doing it. What enlightens me is that Taylor's people are crying foul, claiming that Kobach's people misled them - don't worry about all the legal muboo jumbo, just sign and you're out. That indicates to me that this is likely how he does his job as district attorney in Shawnee County. He has people who take care of all the details, he just get briefed and signs the documents. He's really too busy to be bothered with trivia. As Kobach said, many candidates who are not lawyers read the statute and submitted the legally required statement. I can't imagine that's too hard for someone who aspires to political office.
If Roberts had a competent opponent anywhere along the road, he probably would not have survived, but that's not his fault and not his problem. What he does need to do now, is to get his campaign operation straightened out and end this race early.
I think Taylor could have withdrawn before the Primary, but he was elected by the Dems to be their candidate in the General. Kansas Dem Party owes him very big time. What’s funny is that their Obama-Junior-Orman is already running into problems, including a bunch of mod Rs endorsing him - only to find out that many of those named did not endorse Orman, many are deceased, and many are, in fact, registered Democrats.
The Democrat party in Kansas is a sick joke.
Bump
Insidious!
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