Businessman Bob Hamilton joins crowded field running to replace Pat Roberts in Kansas
Kansas businessman Bob Hamilton has entered the crowded race for U.S. Senate in Kansas, launching his candidacy at a time when campaign events are on hold because of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Hamilton, who is running as a Republican, cited the economic crisis caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic as a reason he was running for retiring Republican Sen. Pat Roberts’ seat.
“A lot of Kansans are reeling from the job loss and health scare caused by COVID-19,” Hamilton, who owns Bob Hamilton Plumbing, said in his campaign announcement. “My pledge to Kansas, as your next Senator, is to work every day to get our state back on its feet.”
Hamilton lives in Miami County. His plumbing business is based in Johnson County.
“I’m a plumber, not a politician. I have a lot of experience fixing things, and nothing is more broken than Washington,” he said.
He first announced his candidacy to The Wall Street Journal Monday. The Journal story notes that Hamilton is being advised by Axiom Strategies, a Kansas City-based firm owned by Jeff Roe, a longtime Republican operative who ran Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s 2016 presidential campaign.
The Star had previously reported the firm’s involvement in a potential Hamilton campaign after a phone poll was conducted earlier this year comparing the businessman against other candidates, including former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, the party’s 2018 nominee for governor.
As speculation about Hamilton’s run circulated last month, Kobach said that Axiom has a long history of working for his opponents . But Hamilton’s entry is a potential boon to Kobach, who has led in most primary polls, by splintering the anti-Kobach vote.
The race already includes Rep. Roger Marshall, Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle and former Johnson County Commissioner Dave Lindstrom. Marshall’s campaign slammed Hamilton’s candidacy and claimed the primary contest is a two-person race between Kobach and the western Kansas congressman.
“It takes a heck of an ego to announce a vanity project in the middle of a pandemic,” said Eric Pahls, Marshall’s campaign spokesman, in a statement that questioned Hamilton’s conservative credentials and accused him of trying to buy the election.
Hamilton’s campaign called the criticism desperate.
This story was originally published March 30, 2020 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Businessman Bob Hamilton joins crowded field running to replace Pat Roberts in Kansas."
