Mike Pompeo: In the Senate of Kansas, Republicans turn to Pompeo

In August, Roberts, who was retiring, told CNN that he did not know if Kansas was "of a deep red" and wondered if he was now "maybe purple".

"It's feared" that a primary with half a dozen Republican candidates in the Senate did not confide in Kobach, Roberts acknowledged, adding "there is a feeling that" Kobach's latest campaign "n & # It was not a very good race.

Pining for Pompeo

Since the Republicans took over the Senate in the 2014 elections, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has aggressively recruited those whom he considers to be the most eligible candidates. In the case of Kansas, he sought an extraordinary salute: an initiative of former Kansas congressman and current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

On September 3, McConnell repeated on the radio show of the conservative host Hugh Hewitt that Pompeo was his "first choice". A few days later, Pompeo informed the Wichita Eagle and the Kansas City Star that he wished to serve the president as long as Trump wanted him to be secretary of state, adding to take his answer "as you see fit. "

The conjecture follows him wherever he goes. On Friday night, at a question-and-answer session at the House of Republicans in Baltimore, a congressman asked a question to Pompeo stating that he would not ask any questions about a question. sitting in the Senate, according to a current source. Pompeo laughed and said it would have been okay before continuing to talk about China and Russia.

For months, anti-Kobacos Republican donors and strategists have pinpointed Pompeo's prospects as the only one able to pacify the party and free up a growing number of candidates. In addition to Kobach, Rep. Roger Marshall, Senate President Susan Wagle, and former Chiefs and Kansas City businessman Dave Lindstrom show up at the party's primary. Others are also considering campaigns.

"In a multi-candidate group without Mike Pompeo, Kobach is likely to win" the primary, said David Kensinger, Republican strategist who has managed successful state-wide campaigns for Roberts and Brownback. Any other Republican candidate would be a "big favorite" to win the general election, he added, while "Kobach would be, at best, a serious risk."

The politicians searched every word of Pompeo and looked for clues about his political future. Some pay on his interviews. Others evaluate who he selects as an interviewer. A Kansas GOP member told CNN that Pompeo's talks with Conservative host Pete Mundo were interpreted as a "clear sign" that the Secretary of State was interested in a Senate candidacy because his show was a " rite of passage "for Republican candidates seeking candidates. office in all the state.

At the end of his speech, Pompeo said that he knew how to laugh: "I look forward to answering your questions. almost No matter what topic today. "

"We are all looking forward to hearing from him and telling us when he will decide to throw himself into the ring for the US Senate," CNN leader Tom Phillips said at the Kansas House Majority .

"He was rather quiet on this subject," he added.

Keep your cards nearby

In response to all the attention, Pompeo repeatedly reiterated that he was focused on his work, but he was perfectly aware of all the speculation. In July, at the Kansas Society Dinner in Washington, DC, Pompeo felt compelled to address a joke, according to three participants.

"From now onSenator Roberts and I are not running for the Senate, "he said.

Moving from the post of chief diplomat to the Senate is an unprecedented career change, but it would give him another high-level position, an even longer career in the public service, and potentially a platform for running for president.

Nevertheless, people close to Pompeo said that a campaign in the Senate was on the table. A spokesman for the State Department declined to comment on this article.

During interviews with CNN, some Kansas officials said they thought Pompeo was seriously considering it. Former Republican governor Jeff Colyer said, "I know he's looking at the situation," calling the race a "distinct possibility." Alan Cobb, President and CEO of the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, is waiting for his friend Pompeo to make his decision before deciding to introduce himself. Cobb said he would "probably" make his decision within the next thirty days.

Pompeo has months to decide; the deadline for filing the state is not until June.

The land without Pompeo

If Pompeo does not show up, the primary could turn to Kobach and Roger Marshall, a congressman representing the "Big First" district in the central and western parts of the state.

Although they are both Republicans, the contrast between them is quite striking. Kobach focuses on illegal immigration; Marshall is on agriculture. Kobach would pressure a resistant congress to build the Trump Wall. Marshall would attack the White House for his trade war with China, which had announced in August the interruption of its purchases of US agricultural products in response to Trump's tariffs. Kobach wants to be part of the Judiciary Committee of the Senate; Marshall is committed to continuing the Kansan tradition on the Senate Agriculture Committee, which has been going on for several decades.

On September 7, a day after Pompeo's K-State speech, Marshall announced his candidacy for the Senate at the annual fair, right next to his wife Laina and under a giant American flag. Marshall decried socialism and the so-called "squad" of progressive women in Congress in Washington, pledging not to let them "ruin" the agricultural and oil industries with the Green New Deal.

While he was describing the typical positions of the party, including his support for the construction of the Trump Wall, Marshall stood as the heir of a "pragmatic" brand of Kansas Republican. He quoted former Senate Republican leader Bob Dole as saying his childhood hero was the former president and Kansan, Dwight Eisenhower, and had pledged to be "a voice." for agriculture in Kansas ", like Roberts, who chaired committees of the House and Senate Agriculture.

The strongest argument in favor of Marshall's candidacy is historic, as a protector of his state's economic interests rather than as an agitator.

Marshall now represents the same solidly Republican district from which Dole, Roberts and Senator Jerry Moran built the basis of their power. He did not serve as long as they did, even though he has close personal ties with some of his district.

After the kickoff of Marshall's campaign, a supporter explained why he had supported the congressman, an obstetrician-gynecologist, in the Senate. "First and foremost, he delivered my children," he said.

And then there is Kobach

A few hours later and a few miles from the hubbub of the fair, Kobach sits at Carl's Bar, eating a hamburger while passionately explaining why he thinks some Republicans do not like him .

"There is a well-established political group in Kansas, a class that has controlled the Republican Party for a long time," Kobach said. "They no longer control the party so closely."

He told CNN that he was standing for three reasons: "carry the ball" for President Trump on immigration, confirming conservative judges and reducing the size of the government, for which he blames the two parties .

"At the present time, there is not really a key person in the US Senate who is leading the charge for law enforcement in illegal immigration." "said Kobach.
He thinks this race will be more fruitful than the previous one, highlighting the history of the state that elected Democrats and Republicans as governors, while sending only Republicans to the Senate.

Kobach helped draft a controversial 2010 law in Arizona allowing police to arrest people and demand proof of citizenship if they suspected that detainees were illegally in the country. In 2012, the Supreme Court invalidated several aspects, while maintaining this essential provision. As Kansas Secretary of State, Kobach pleaded for a state law still blocked in court that requires people to show their citizenship papers to register and vote.

In 2017, Trump chose Kobach to lead a commission on the integrity of voters, which dissolved without finding any evidence of widespread fraud. He has since worked with We Build the Wall, a nonprofit advocacy group that claims to have raised $ 25 million to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.

Kobach has energized the conservative core Kansans throughout his career, but his polarizing nature was highlighted during the 2018 governor's race. He won his party's nomination by only 343 votes on the governor-in-office. Colyer, then lost to Kelly by five points. While Kobach "still has a strong base of support," he's been somewhat weakened since November, said John Whitmer, Kansas radio host and former state legislator who had backed Kobach during this period.

"There is a shame for someone who has lost a race," added Whitmer.

L & # 39; money

Marshall should have an advantage in terms of fundraising. In 2018, Kobach relied on the millions of dollars that his candidate for the post of lieutenant governor, Wink Hartman, was willing to spend. Marshall has already declared $ 1.4 million on hand. But this time, the Kobach campaign could benefit from the largesse of conservative outside groups, especially the budget-driven Club for Growth.

David McIntosh, chairman of the group, told CNN that he hoped "like everyone else" that Pompeo is entering the race. But if he does not, McIntosh said he could see the group's spending on the Super PAC "well below seven digits" of Marshall's opinion.

"We are very interested in the Kansas Senate race and see this as an opportunity to become a true economic conservative," McIntosh said. "Our view of Marshall is that it's not one."

McIntosh pointed to the panel of the group, which shows that Marshall voted in favor of the Farm Bill, the National Flood Insurance Program, ethanol subsidies and government spending at which the Club for Growth is the opposite. Marshall responded to this criticism by noting that he votes with President Trump 98% of the time.

Of course, other outside groups can align against Kobach.

"Given the outcome of last year's governorship race, it is imperative to do our best in Kansas," said Jack Pandol, spokesperson for the Senate Leadership Fund, a Super PAC aligned with McConnell. "We have not ruled out anything for this seat to remain in the hands of Republicans."

The asset factor

Another variable in the race is a presidential endorsement. In his run for governorship in 2018, Kobach received Trump's blessing one day before the primary, but it is unclear whether the president will give it back. Kobach told CNN that he had not asked for the endorsement of his president, but that Trump had been "very encouraging" for his race.

While acknowledging that Pompeo could compromise his candidacy, Mr. Kobach announced his intention to keep running, "unless something that changes the calculations and the landscape does not change dramatically", as a poll that suggests that Pompeo's "s & # 39, fleeing with.

During talks with Kansas Republicans at the fair on a dirt road connecting the painter to the chainsaw to the porcine breed, some wondered why Pompeo would transition from state secretary to senator. None of them mentioned the names of current or potential Democrat candidates – former US Attorney Barry Grissom, former US Representative Nancy Boyda and Senator Barbara Bollier – or a stated that they posed a particular threat.

However, the thesis of her recruitment was validated by Mandy Burmeister, a housewife, and Gary White, a farmer, who respectively supported Kelly and Kobach as governor in 2018.

Both said that they would probably support Pompeo when he ran for the Senate in 2020, inspired by his personality and skills.

"He got his first degree in his class at West Point," said White. "It's good enough, is not it?"