Mike Pompeo ‘would be a solid candidate’ if he runs for Senate, Sen. Jerry Moran says

The day before Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to speak at Kansas State University, Sen. Jerry Moran said the nation’s top diplomat would be a “solid candidate” for an open Senate seat.

“I’ve had conversations with Secretary Pompeo, and I don’t know what decisions he’s going to make and I don’t know how soon he’s going to make one,” Moran, R-Kansas, told reporters Thursday in Wichita. “I certainly ... see that as a real potential that the secretary may decide he would be interested in serving in the United States Senate, and I think he would be a solid candidate.

“Kansans, at the moment, it sounds like we’re going to have lots of choices, but that race also might change should the secretary decide to enter it.”

Pompeo’s scheduled speech Friday at K-State set off new speculation that he may run for retiring Republican Sen. Pat Roberts’s seat in Congress in 2020. The appearance is part of the university’s prestigious Landon Lecture Series.

Prior to his role in President Donald Trump’s cabinet, Pompeo was director of the Central Intelligence Agency after serving three terms in the House, representing Wichita and the surrounding area.

Republicans who have announced Senate campaigns include former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle, former Chiefs player Dave Lindstrom and Republican commentator Bryan Pruitt. Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner dropped his Senate bid for a primary election challenge against fellow Republican Rep. Steve Watkins, a first-term congressman. Pompeo’s speech precedes a Saturday announcement at the State Fair by Rep. Roger Marshall, who is expected to enter the Senate race.

On the Democratic side, former federal prosecutor Barry Grissom, former Rep. Nancy Boyda and Manhattan city commissioner Usha Reddi have entered the race.

This story was originally published September 5, 2019 at 6:45 PM.