“Senate Republican strategists are pushing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as a failsafe candidate to keep retiring Sen. Pat Roberts’s (R-KS) seat in Republican hands in 2020, fearing the state could give Democrats an upset victory,” The Hill reports.

Said one GOP strategist: “We lost a governor’s race. We lost a key House race for a seat that was held by Republicans for several terms. We can’t afford to head into November of 2020 worried about whether a Republican can hang onto the Senate seat in a Republican state like Kansas.”

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) says he plans to decide soon whether to run for a fifth term in 2020, after he speaks with family members and supporters in Kansas over the holidays, Politico reports.

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) “looks vulnerable to Democrats — and some Republicans, and that’s a big reason the 2020 race has quickly drawn a prominent potential challenger, former U. S. Attorney for Kansas Barry Grissom (D),” McClatchy reports.

“Grissom confirmed Monday that he’s been considering a run for U.S. Senate as a Democrat for roughly a year.”

“He’s not officially made his decision, but he’s actively is laying the groundwork to mount a challenge against Roberts, the Kansas Republican who has been in Congress for nearly four decades.”