“It has been 88 years since Kansas last sent a Democrat to the United States Senate — one of only three Democrats ever to represent the state in the upper chamber. But this year, in a challenging and unstable political environment for Republicans, party leaders are growing fearful that this reliably Republican stronghold will instead become an expensive, high-stakes battleground that could determine the balance of power in Washington,” the New York Times reports.

“Ahead of the August primary, Democrats have largely rallied around Barbara Bollier, a retired anesthesiologist who was until recently a Republican. Republicans, meanwhile, are locked in an intraparty competition that has all of the trappings of a full-out brawl: attack ads, bitter recriminations between the candidates and a party chair who tried to intervene and sparked backlash. At the center of the fireworks is Kris W. Kobach, a hard-line Trump supporter who has been an incendiary presence in Kansas politics for years.”

A new National Republican Senatorial Committee poll in Kansas finds Roger Marshall (R) leading Barbara Bolier (D) in the U.S. Senate race, 46% to 35% with 18% undecided.

However, the race is effectively tied with Kris Kobach (R) as the GOP nominee: Kobach barely edges Bolier, 44% to 43% with 12% undecided.

“President Trump recently encouraged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to reconsider running for the U.S. Senate in Kansas but Pompeo rebuffed the request,” the Washington Post reports.

“Trump spoke to Pompeo about making a bid for the seat during a one-on-one meeting at the White House about two weeks ago, both people said, suggesting that Pompeo could definitely keep the seat for Republicans if he ran.”

“Trump’s request underscores the growing nervousness among Republicans that they could lose control of the Senate in this fall’s election and that a once safe Kansas seat could now be in play.”

Politico: “Senate Republicans have a problem in Kansas. And they still think Mike Pompeo is the solution. Staring at a messy primary, a credible Democratic challenger and a real battle for Senate control, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is pushing for the secretary of State to jump into the race with just weeks to go until the filing deadline.”

“Pompeo has been firm thus far that he will not reconsider and recently told the White House that he is not running.”

Kansas GOP chair Mike Kuckelman sent letters to two Republican candidates — Susan Wagle and Dave Lindstrom — asking them to drop out of the race for U.S. Senate for the good of the party, the Kansas City Star reports.

Kuckelman told the candidates that continuing their campaigns will endanger the party’s ability to hold the seat in November after eight decades of dominance in Senate races.

Kuckelman’s warning is an indirect but unmistakable reference to former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (R), who lost to Laura Kelly (D) in the 2018 race for governor after a historically close Republican primary that featured numerous candidates. It’s also an indirect endorsement of Rep. Roger Marshall for the nomination.

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Kansas finds Barbara Bollier (D) leading Kris Kobach (R) by two points in a possible U.S. Senate match up, 44% to 42%, with 13% still undecided.

“Republican leaders on Capitol Hill are fearful that the conservative hardliner Kris Kobach could cost them a crucial Senate seat in Kansas and potentially their narrow majority — and are eager to find a way to defeat him in a hotly contested primary,” CNN reports.

“But Kobach is getting face time with President Donald Trump and consulting with Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, over an immigration plan that the White House is developing. And no one knows how Trump will insert himself into the GOP primary, and whether Senate Republican leaders will succeed in getting him to endorse a candidate they argue has a better chance of winning in November.”

President Trump initially tried to call Kansas Republican Kris Kobach while he was meeting in the Oval Office with Kobach’s rival for the GOP Senate nomination, Roger Marshall, the Kansas City Star reports.

“Two sources familiar with Marshall’s Monday meeting with president say that Trump tried to call Kobach to urge him to drop out of the race while the congressman and the president’s political team were present, but the call went to voicemail.”

Washington Post: “Since Pompeo bowed out of the race, the leading Democratic contender, state Sen. Barbara Bollier, has announced that she raised more than $1 million in her first quarter in the contest, unprecedented for a Democratic Senate hopeful in Kansas.”

“Although Kansans have a history of electing moderate and Democratic governors … the Senate seat will be far more difficult, analysts say… Bollier left the Republican Party just over a year ago, shortly before she announced her Senate bid as a Democrat.”

“Kansas Republican icon Bob Dole has endorsed Rep. Roger Marshall’s campaign for U.S. Senate, a major boost to the congressman who holds the same House seat Dole had at the start of his political career,” the Kansas City Star reports.

“His endorsement is also a sign that establishment Republicans may be coalescing around Marshall after Mike Pompeo decided to forgo the race.”

“Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell appears to be moving swiftly to help bolster GOP chances of keeping an open Senate seat in Kansas in November, after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said this week that he won’t be running,” Bloomberg reports.

“McConnell spoke in his Capitol Hill office Tuesday with Rep. Roger Marshall, a Kansas Republican who entered the Senate race in September.”

“The Kansas seat could be at risk if former Kansas Secretary of State and 2018 GOP gubernatorial nominee Kris Kobach prevails in the Republican Senate primary in August, and McConnell’s camp isn’t hiding that the majority leader wants another candidate.”

Inside Elections moves the race from Solid Republican to Lean Republican.

“When Mitch McConnell pitches Mike Pompeo on running for the Senate in 2020, a periodic occurrence, the majority leader does not fail to mention that the chamber is a great steppingstone should the secretary of state harbor higher aspirations,” the Washington Examiner reports.

“Fearing former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach could win the Republican nomination to succeed retiring Sen. Pat Roberts and put an otherwise red seat in jeopardy, McConnell and other party insiders are desperate for Pompeo to run.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is further fueling speculation about whether he will run for Senate in Kansas by using a new personal Twitter account.

So far, he’s tweeted mostly about sports.

“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attended an off-the-books sit-down meeting with a conservative group that included a small number of wealthy Republican donors, which was not on his official schedule while he was in London to attend this week’s NATO Summit,” CNN reports.

“The gathering, hosted by the Hamilton Society, conveniently took place in the hotel where Pompeo was staying, situated in a small events space on the second floor. Pompeo slipped into the meeting, without the State Department alerting the press traveling with him about where he was headed or who he was going to meet.”

“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has reached out to Sheldon Adelson, the Republican Party’s largest donor, in recent weeks to ‘gauge interest’ in his potential run for an open Senate seat in Kansas next year,” McClatchy reports.

“It is the latest evidence of Pompeo’s outreach campaign to rally donor support around a potential Senate bid, following similar conversations with Charles Koch, a Kansas resident, as well as donors affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.”

President Trump acknowledged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is mulling a run for Senate in Kansas next year, the Kansas City Star reports.

Said Trump: “He loves the people of Kansas. If he thought that there was a chance of losing that seat, I think he would do that and he would win in a landslide because they love him in Kansas.”

“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo discussed the U.S. Senate race in Kansas with billionaire Charles Koch and a top official from his namesake company during a visit to Wichita on Friday,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will make another trip to Kansas on Thursday in a move sure to reignite speculation about his political future,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The official visit—the secretary of state’s third official appearance in the state this year—is seen by Kansas Republicans as the latest sign that Mr. Pompeo hasn’t fully ruled out a 2020 run to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Pat Roberts.”