Posted on 08/02/2020 4:13:23 PM PDT by RandFan
Republican officials are scrambling to head off potential political trouble in Kansas, fearing that the state’s Senate seat could come into play for Democrats if Kris Kobach emerges victorious in a GOP primary on Tuesday.
Senate Republican leaders are backing Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) for the nomination, believing that he has the best chance of holding down retiring Sen. Pat Roberts's (R-Kan.) seat for the GOP.
Polling in the Senate primary has been scarce. While most Republicans believe Marshall has the advantage in the race, there are growing concerns that Kobach, the controversial former Kansas secretary of state and a staunch ally of President Trump, may eke out a win on Tuesday.
“Things have tightened considerably,” one Kansas Republican operative familiar with the race said. “I think everybody working for Marshall felt pretty good for a while, but he’s not as comfortable as he was a week ago.”
Kobach has benefited in recent weeks from a surge in outside spending aimed at boosting his primary campaign. Earlier this month, a super PAC with ties to Democrats began airing television ads in Kansas, casting Kobach as a firm ally of Trump who “won’t compromise on building the wall or getting tough on China.”
At the same time, Kobach has received help from tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who has pumped nearly $1 million into a super PAC backing the former Kansas secretary of state’s Senate bid, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission. That includes a $500,000 contribution made at the end of June.
In an effort to counter the pro-Kobach efforts, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a super PAC aligned with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) went on the airwaves in Kansas earlier this month to boost Marshall ahead of the primary.
Democrats have largely united behind the campaign of state Sen. Barbara Bollier, a former Republican who left the party in 2018. She has repeatedly outraised both Marshall and Kobach since launching her Senate bid last year and will begin her general election with far more cash on hand than the eventual GOP nominee if she wins the Democratic nomination.
For now, Republicans have the advantage in Kansas, which hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since the Great Depression. The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, rates the contest as "Lean Republican."
But some Republicans fear that a win for Kobach on Tuesday would reverse their fortunes in Kansas. Kobach has often courted controversy with incendiary comments, and Republicans believe his strong stances on issues such as immigration could turn off more moderate voters.
Since launching his campaign a year ago, Kobach has yet to raise even $1 million and is heading into the primary with only about $136,000 in the bank. And what little polling there is in the Kansas Senate race shows Bollier with a narrow lead in a potential head-to-head match-up against Kobach.
Senate Republican polling reported on Thursday by The New York Times found that 30 percent of GOP primary voters would support the Democrat in the Kansas Senate race if Kobach becomes the nominee.
“Democrats haven’t won a Senate race here since when? The ’30s?” a Republican strategist familiar with the Senate races said. “Kobach is pretty much the only one who could ruin that.”
There are several factors that have contributed to the Republican hand-wringing in the Kansas Senate race, including Kobach’s loss in the state’s 2018 gubernatorial race to Democrat Laura Kelly.
Some Republicans have also become frustrated with Trump’s refusal to endorse in the primary. The president endorsed Kobach during his 2018 race.
Marshall wasn’t Senate Republican leaders’ first choice to fill Roberts’s seat. They sought for months to recruit Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to run for the seat race, though he ultimately declined to do so.
Still, Marshall has racked up a series of high-profile endorsements, including from Bob Dole, a former Kansas senator and Republican presidential nominee, and from the Chamber of Commerce, which launched a $400,000 ad campaign earlier this month to boost Marshall ahead of the primary.
Democrats need to flip three or four Republican-held Senate seats, depending on who wins the White House, to capture a majority in the chamber.
They are watching the Kansas GOP Senate primary closely, believing that the state could come into play in November and potentially add another pickup opportunity to their electoral map, which has expanded dramatically in recent months to include red states such as Georgia, Iowa and Montana in addition to longtime battlegrounds such as Arizona, Colorado, Maine and North Carolina.
“Dr. Barbara Bollier is building a strong campaign focused on the issues Kansans care about most like access to affordable health care, she’s outraising the entire Republican field combined, and she’s well-positioned to take on whoever emerges from this very nasty and expensive primary,” Stewart Boss, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), said.
Fun fact: No Republican has succeeded another at an election in Kansas for Governor since 1964. He “blundered” nothing. The RINOs in KS were going all out to make sure the Dem won.
No argument there. We could do with dumping 100% of the Demonrats and probably even 90% of the Republicans.
You can make an argument for that, yes.
Oddly, the Democrat Party doesn't have these issues when they're driving for the goal line on a US Senate seat.
I'm just sayin'.
The following article reveals details about one of the worst threats against the Second Amendment rights of all Americans. If we lose the Senate and the Executive, the consequences will be immediately, unprecedentedly bad.
Newt Gingrich: Dems’ attempt to flip Senate could be determined by this Republican primary Tuesday
Fox News
Newt Gingrich
August 1, 2020
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/dems-attempt-to-flip-senate-newt-gingrich
See the part about the Democrats’ “Sunflower State PAC,” “Old Town Media,” “Unite the Country,” “Amalgamated Bank” and “Senate Majority PAC.” The Democrats are throwing many millions of dollars into supporting Kobach and stopping Marshall in the primary.
And it looks like there’s nothing wrong with Marshall’s positions. He looks like a conservative on everything including Second Amendment rights.
Roger Marshall
(Republican, district 1)
https://www.ontheissues.org/House/Roger_Marshall.htm#Gun_Control
Here. Maybe I can excerpt this much.
Newt Gingrich: Dems’ attempt to flip Senate could be determined by this Republican primary Tuesday
Fox News
Newt Gingrich
August 1, 2020
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/dems-attempt-to-flip-senate-newt-gingrich
“The Democrats have invented Sunflower State PAC, which has already spent $2.5 million propping up Kobach and attacking Congressman Roger Marshall, R-Kan. The PAC will spend another $2.2 million against Marshall before the primary Tuesday.
As James Arkin reported in Politico on July 15: “Sunflower State has apparent ties to Democrats. The media buyer used to place the ad, Old Town Media, was also used to place more than $11 million in ads from Unite the Country, the pro-Joe Biden super PAC that spent heavily in the Democratic presidential primary. Sunflower State also holds its account at Amalgamated Bank, which is used by Senate Majority PAC,...”
And again, see Marshall’s positions for yourself.
Roger Marshall
(Republican, district 1)
https://www.ontheissues.org/House/Roger_Marshall.htm#Gun_Control
Democrats are having their own battles in Massachusetts with Ed markey and Joe Kennedy. Only difference is they don’t have to fear losing the seat no matter who wins. We do unfortunately.
The Lincoln group would go full attack. I hate that group so much.
Everyone who did much to get Kavanaugh appointed, including McConnell, is fine with smart conservatives. If our Second Amendment rights are violated by a Democrat government in all three branches, freedom will end for everyone right there. The raids, defamations and imprisonments will commence.
Bush League Republicans always help the Democrat win if the citizens pick the candidate.
agreed. there are some real libtards here on FR, especially on the Kobach thread. trump20162020 and doodledawg for two. They both seem to work extra hard to convince us Kobach isn’t our guy.
They need to STFU and but out of this conservative site.
exactly right. and when he won the primary, mcconnell worked his ass off to make sure he didn’t win.
“Fun fact: No Republican has succeeded another at an election in Kansas for Governor since 1964. He “blundered” nothing. The RINOs in KS were going all out to make sure the Dem won.”
*************************************************************
BINGO!
This is more crap from The Hill. The reason the GOP establishment is against Kobach is not because Roger Marshall would have a better chance to win the Nov election. It is because Kobach would not be a butt kissing McConnell guy and we have seen how McConnell has repeatedly interferred in primaries when one of the candidates is not a McConnell lap dog. You can’t believe anything put out by The Hill. It is very likely McConnell will screw up this senate seat as well.
We Conservatives battle 3 main enemies: the MSM, the Democrats (both practically the same entity), and the GOPe and folks like Kasich and Romney. Thank God for websites such as this.
yes, amen. we also battle libs that masquerade as conservatives to weave doubt and FUD into our only conservative site essentially.
If you're going to attack a fellow FReeper, please have the good manners to post to them.
From what I hear from the conservatives behind the scenes on Twit, Kobach is a sure loser. This “could” cost us the senate if Tom Collins falters, cuz we’ll def lose McSally and Gardner, pick up only AL. Could put us at 50/50 meaning . . .
Minion Romney is the deciding vote, which is to say, the DemoKKKrats control the Senate.
What makes Marshall a “RINO leftist”?
All that for what? Kobach instead of some other conservative without all the baggage. Explain that.
This is just excuse-making. Blame literally anyone and everyone except Kris Kobach for his own loss. It's pitiful.
Then if he wins the primary and loses this November I'm sure it'll be that dastardly Mitch's fault, and we'll need to re-nominate him for whatever in 2022!
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