Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab on Wednesday launched a bid to become governor, making him the first major candidate to enter the 2026 field, the Kansas City Star reports.
Playbook: “With incumbent Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly term-limited, this will be one of Republicans’ biggest targets next year.”
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) has won re-election to a second term, defeating Republican challenger Derek Schmidt, NBC News projects.
“Her narrow victory over Schmidt, the state’s three-term attorney general, came after she focused her campaign almost exclusively on the economy, tax cuts, education and her desire to work with Republicans.”
Meanwhile, the AP reports that Kris Kobach (R) won his race for attorney general.
Jeff Colyer (R) announced he was ending his campaign for Kansas governor and receiving treatment for prostate cancer, the Kansas Reflector reports.
Colyer’s departure from the race clears the way for Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt (R) to win the GOP nomination for governor in next year’s primary election.
Former Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer (R) picked up a key endorsement in his bid to reclaim the governorship, earning the backing of Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), as he launched a full-throated appeal as the “only conservative” in the nascent race, the Topeka Capital Journal reports.
“It comes as Colyer formally announced his gubernatorial bid at the Capitol Plaza Hotel — a race he already effectively entered when he announced the beginnings of a campaign apparatus in February.”
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D) “is ‘of course’ running for reelection in 2022, a spokeswoman said Friday, after Republicans in recent days had treated a second campaign by the incumbent Democrat as an open question,” the Kansas City Star reports.
Wichita Eagle: “He’s ruled out a U.S. Senate run in 2020. But on the eve of Pompeo’s first official visit to Kansas since his meteoric rise from congressman to secretary of state, the Wichita Republican propped open the door to a political future in his home state.”
Said Pompeo: “I try to just avoid ruling things out when there’s others who are in control. The Lord will get me to the right place.”
“Republicans in the state think that means one of two things — a bid for Senate or the governor’s mansion in 2022. That is, if Pompeo doesn’t decide to run for president in 2024 instead.”
Kansas City Star: “Interviews with more than a dozen Republican strategists and officials paint a picture of a candidate who refused to listen to advice, was unwilling to put energy into fundraising and failed to set up a basic ‘get out the vote’ operation.”
“Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state, struggled to pay his campaign staff on time and at one point lacked a working phone system at his Johnson County campaign office, according to GOP sources familiar with the campaign. And people who offered to volunteer were never contacted.”
Sid one long-time GOP operative: “It was the most dysfunctional thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Kansas gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach (R), who has close ties to President Trump, “has accepted financial donations from white nationalist sympathizers and has for more than a decade been affiliated with groups espousing white supremacist views,” The Guardian reports.
“Democrats in Kansas who have had to sit on the political sidelines for the better part of a decade are hoping for a blue wave on Election Day that could help them break the Republican grip on power and are optimistic about their chances in several races, including the one for governor,” the AP reports.
James Hohmann: “Kobach, who made a national name for himself as a conservative lightning rod, is closing his campaign on his terms. He did not mention public education in his speech, even though polls show funding for schools is the No. 1 concern even among registered Republicans in Kansas. Nor did Kobach mention health care or infrastructure.”
“Instead, he talked about guns and criticized the moderators of all seven debates that have been held this fall for not asking any questions about abortion.”
“Three top GOP operatives who have won statewide races in Kansas expressed frustration on Thursday that Kobach is not following the tried-and-true formula for how to win here. He certainly still has a path to victory because this is such a red state, and independent candidate Greg Orman is an unpredictable wild card who is pulling votes from the Democrat, but they believe Kobach squandered the chance after beating the incumbent GOP governor in the August primary to focus on issues that could appeal to persuadable swing voters.”
“Kansas election officials are reviewing text messages claiming to be from President Donald Trump and telling residents that their early votes hadn’t been recorded, as Democratic leaders were quick Thursday to worry that they were part of efforts to ‘steal’ a close governor’s race,” the AP reports.
“State Elections Director Bryan Caskey said the Kansas secretary of state’s office received 50 or 60 calls about the texts Wednesday, mostly from the northeastern part of the state. Caskey said the office is trying to determine whether the texts broke a law before determining what to do next.”
“In three states, the referee for the midterm elections is also on the field as a player,” McClatchy reports.
“Elected secretaries of state in Georgia and Kansas — who in their official capacities oversee the elections in their states — are running for governor. Ohio’s secretary of state is running for lieutenant governor. All are Republicans.”
“They have faced scattered calls to resign but have refused to do so. Election reformers say the situation underscores the conflict of interest when an official has responsibilities for an election while also running as a candidate.”
Former Kansas Gov. Mike Hayden (R) joined the growing ranks of Republicans endorsing Laura Kelly’s (D) run for governor over Kris Kobach (R), the Kansas City Star reports.
Said Hayden: “After eight years of crisis, we cannot elect someone who wants to repeat the disasters of the past. Kris Kobach has promised to do just that — risking the future of our great state.”
All living ex-Republican governors have now endorsed Kelly, except Sam Brownback (R).
“A titan of Kansas Republican politics is shunning Kris Kobach (R), her party’s nominee, in his run for governor,” the Kansas City Star reports.
“Nancy Kassebaum, who represented Kansas for three terms in the U.S. Senate, said she will support Laura Kelly’s (D) campaign.”
“Kris Kobach may be the chosen standard-bearer for the Kansas Republican Party, but elected GOP officials are less than unified behind him in his run for governor,” the Kansas City Star reports.
“Almost 40 percent of Republicans in the Kansas Legislature, when asked whether they will support Kobach in November, either would not say or did not respond to repeated inquiries.”
Republicans in Kansas further splintered as former Gov. Bill Graves (R) endorsed Laura Kelly (D) for governor over Kris Kobach (R), his party’s nominee, the Kansas City Star reports.
Said Graves: “Laura Kelly is the only Democrat I have ever endorsed for public office. And the reason I’m doing that now is because I believe so much is at stake in the state of Kansas.”
Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer’s (R) campaign chairman has endorsed independent Greg Orman’s bid for governor after Colyer lost the Republican primary to Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), the Wichita Eagle reports.
“The move by Steve Baccus, a long-time former president of the Kansas Farm Bureau, marks the first public defection to Orman from Colyer’s team after an often-bitter race between Colyer and Kobach.”
Cook Political Report: “A week after the polls closed, Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer conceded the primary to Secretary of State Kris Kobach. While Kobach’s lead over Colyer dwindled to less than 100 votes two days after the primary, Kobach pulled ahead once county officials started counting provisional ballots. By the end of the day on August 14, Kobach’s lead had expanded to 345 votes. But, Kobach’s victory isn’t necessarily good news as most GOP strategists consider him to be a flawed nominee. As a result, the race moves to the Toss Up.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.