Posted on 09/20/2014 8:38:01 AM PDT by centurion316
The Senate race in Kansas may suddenly be the most crucial contest in the country. Republicans are scrambling to protect a longtime incumbent. Bob Dole is back on the campaign trail. The state’s Democrats have no candidate and are trying to say as little about that as possible. And a 45-year-old investor from suburban Kansas City may hold the key to control of the Senate in January.
At the beginning of the year, no one thought that Kansas — which has sent only Republicans to the Senate since 1938 — would be critical in determining the balance of the Senate. But a Kansas Supreme Court ruling on Thursday that allowed the Democratic nominee to withdraw his name from the ballot made that prospect real.
Democrats are celebrating the ruling. Their candidate may be off the ballot, but his departure benefits the investor, Greg Orman, who is running as an independent, and hurts the longtime Republican incumbent, Senator Pat Roberts, who had already been tripped up in his expected waltz to re-election.
A major factor in Mr. Roberts’s troubles has been the unexpected rise of Mr. Orman, who has been coy about his intentions if he should be elected, refusing to say if he would caucus with Democrats or Republicans. But his election has the potential of keeping the Senate out of Republican hands if the chamber is narrowly divided after the elections.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Of course, he has to take the threat seriously.
There is a very hot race between the Republican Governor, Brownback, and a Democrat challenger.
All true, which is why I voted against him in the Primary. But, the last thing in the world that I want is for some phony Independent who is really a Democrat to replace. I have not yet lost my senses.
Many simply vote a straight ticket and may vote for the 'Independent' and ignore other candidates.
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