Kobach’s campaign needs cash. His wealthy new running mate can deliver

Kris Kobach could gain more than $1 million for his campaign after naming a wealthy Wichitan his top deputy.

In picking Wink Hartman to be his running mate, the Republican secretary of state and candidate for governor may be able to access the oil businessman’s considerable wealth to strengthen his campaign, especially as the race intensifies ahead of the August primary election.

Hartman gave himself about $1.65 million during his campaign, before dropping out last month. He had $1.5 million cash on hand as of Dec. 31, 2017.

Neither Hartman nor Kobach would say whether Hartman will give a similar sum to Kobach’s campaign, but they didn’t rule it out.

"We haven't had that discussion," Kobach said when asked about Hartman's funds being put into his campaign.

"Kris and I will decide the amount of monies and the method by which we will finance the campaign. We will be doing fundraisers, if you will, the old-fashioned way," Hartman said.

To win, Kobach will have to beat a sitting governor. He is trailing Gov. Jeff Colyer in fundraising, according to the latest available campaign finance reports.

Kobach will also have to face down Greg Orman if he wins the Republican primary, in addition to the Democratic candidate. The suburban Kansas City businessman had between $21.5 million and $86 million in assets and income as of 2014.

"Kobach is not as wealthy as these other people. He’s got that now with Hartman," said Bob Beatty, a political scientist at Washburn University in Topeka.

"That was a missing piece. Colyer is a wealthy man, Orman is a wealthy man and now Kobach’s ticket is wealthy with the addition of Hartman."

Kobach raised $355,000 in contributions, according to campaign finance reports released in January. Colyer had $632,000 in contributions.

Kobach’s haul included a fundraising event with Donald Trump, Jr in Overland Park. He is expected to hold a similar event with Trump Jr. in Wichita at some point in the future.

Rep. J.R. Claeys, a Salina Republican who supported Hartman but now supports the Kobach-Hartman ticket, said that leading up to Hartman’s selection there was no discussion of dollars being committed.

"Having been a party to those discussions, the discussions were really about how Wink fits in as a conservative businessman and fills that void. I think that was really the piece that was most appealing to putting the ticket together, was solving for that part of that," Claeys said.

Still, having a wealthy running mate who can write a check may prove an asset, said Patrick Miller, a political scientist at the University of Kansas. Kobach’s reported fundraising was less than expected, he said.

"If that is the trend long term in terms of fundraising, he runs the risk of being outspent by his opponents," Miller said.

Miller cautioned that Kobach may not need as much money because of greater name recognition.

So far, Kobach, Orman and Colyer have named running mates. Orman recently chose Sen. John Doll of Garden City. Colyer earlier this year named Tracey Mann as his lieutenant governor.

No Democratic candidates have announced running mates, nor have any dropped out.

Candidates need to look for running mates who can add balance to the campaign, said Joan Wagnon, a former chairwoman of the Kansas Democratic Party who ran for governor in 1994. She lost the nomination to Jim Slattery.

She was an urban legislator from Topeka and she chose rural legislator Doug Walker as her running mate. She said she didn’t look too much at money at the time, but she should have.

"The ability to bring money to the table is incredibly important," Wagnon said. "It’s gotten a lot more important in recent years because the governor’s race is a TV race and we just have to be able to buy air time in all those places."

Running mates can both help with money and reinforce a candidate’s message, Miller said. Hartman makes sense for Kobach on both counts, he indicated.

Hartman helps Kobach double down on his appeal to Trump-supporting conservatives, he said.

"I don’t think there are many voters out there who are going to say, ‘Wink Hartman: I’m going to vote for Kobach because he picked him,’" Miller said. "But they might get a sense that by picking Hartman, that’s who Kobach really is."

This story was originally published March 22, 2018 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Kobach’s campaign needs cash. His wealthy new running mate can deliver."