Republican Kris Kobach, seeking comeback, launches campaign for Kansas attorney general
Republican Kris Kobach is running for Kansas attorney general, marking his latest comeback attempt after losing bids for governor and U.S. Senate.
Kobach’s aim of becoming the state’s top law enforcement official is likely to draw sharp scrutiny of his checkered record as an attorney, which includes being held in contempt by a federal judge and serving as counsel to a non-profit whose leaders are charged with fraud.
Few Kansas politicians have done more to emphasize their ties to former President Donald Trump than Kobach, and his candidacy could test the staying power of a Trump-like message in the state as the country moves on from his presidency.
“The most important reason I’m running is to stand between the Biden Administration and the people of Kansas when the Biden Administration tries to do unconstitutional things,” Kobach said in an interview.
Kobach would also regain the power to investigate and prosecute voter fraud if elected attorney general.
As secretary of state, Kobach also got the Legislature to grant his office the authority to prosecute election crimes. But the current secretary, Scott Schwab, has indicated he thinks the legal resources of his office are better used elsewhere and refers election-fraud complaints to the attorney general.
Kobach’s entry into the race may also tantalize Democrats and prompt a search for a formidable candidate who could take on the former secretary of state if he wins the primary. Republicans have held the office of attorney general for the past decade.
He filed paperwork late Wednesday to name a campaign treasurer and listed attorney general as the office sought. A formal campaign kick-off will take place Thursday afternoon in Wichita.
Kobach is the first candidate to formally enter the race after Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican, launched a campaign for governor earlier this year. Speculation about other potential GOP candidates has included House Speaker Pro Tem Blaine Finch and Sen. Kellie Warren.
His treasurer, Laura Tawater, is a high-ranking official in the Kansas Republican Party, serving as First District chair. In Facebook posts, she has said the 2020 election was rigged and she was present at a rally in Washington ahead of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the Kansas Reflector has reported.
Kobach has played a prominent role in Kansas Republican politics for more than 10 years, though his stock in some quarters of the party has fallen sharply over the past two years. After defeating then-Gov. Jeff Colyer in the GOP primary by 343 votes, he lost the general election to Democrat Laura Kelly.
Kobach, who was secretary of state from 2011 to 2019, launched a bid for U.S. Senate just a few months later. But national Republicans, fearful that he would endanger a seat held by Republicans for decades, invested heavily in defeating him. Primary voters chose then-Rep. Roger Marshall, who went on to win the November election.
“I think he’ll have a hard time winning a general election,” Marshall told The Star on Thursday. “And I want the most conservative person that can win a primary and a general election to be our nominee.”
Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat, said multiple Democrats have expressed interest in the race, though he didn’t identify them. He said Kobach’s candidacy would benefit his party up and down the ballot.
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha,” Carmichael said when informed of Kobach’s decision to run. “Put that in your newspaper: Carmichael’s response was laughter.”
Kobach’s campaign represents a bet that he will be able to use Democratic President Joe Biden as a foil as he seeks votes in a conservative state. Republican attorneys general, including Schmidt, have already sued the new administration multiple times.
Kobach is particularly focused on House Resolution 1, a broad-ranging measure supported by Biden and congressional Democrats to establish election day as a national holiday and set nationwide standards for voting, voter registration, advance and mail ballots, money in politics, restoration of ex-felons’ voting rights and other electoral issues.
HR1, if passed, would undo much of the Kansas SAFE Act, Kobach’s main accomplishment as secretary of state, which he shepherded through the Legislature to tighten rules on voting.
“That (HR1) would sweep aside our photo ID laws and would wipe out many other aspects of Kansas election law that make our elections safe,” he said. “If that law were to be passed and I were attorney general, I would immediately bring a lawsuit and seek an injunction to stop that federal law from unconstitutionally usurping our authority over state elections in Kansas.”
As secretary of state, Kobach pushed a hardline stance on illegal immigration and unsuccessfully tried to defend a state law that required people to show proof of citizenship to register to vote. Kobach, who insisted on personally defending the law during a federal trial, was found in contempt and a judge said he had acted “disingenuously.”
His behavior in the case led to complaints filed with the state over his conduct as an attorney. Kobach ultimately entered into a diversion agreement with the Kansas Disciplinary Administrator’s Office, which polices the legal profession.
After leaving office, Kobach was the general counsel for We Build the Wall, a Florida-based nonprofit that raised $25 million to construct a small, private border wall between the United State-Mexico border. Their effort was meant to complement Trump’s larger goal of building a border wall in an attempt to frustrate the efforts of those seeking to enter the U.S. from Mexico.
We Build the Wall’s principals, which included President Donald Trump advisor Stephen Bannon and military veteran Brian Kolfage, were charged in the U.S. Southern District of New York in 2020 with diverting the nonprofits funds for their personal use. Trump subsequently issued a pardon for Bannon, but the charges against the other defendants remain.
Federal prosecutors froze We Build the Wall’s bank accounts. Kobach sought to intervene in the criminal case, asking the judge to modify a restraining order on We Build the Wall’s assets so he could pay himself his legal bills for representing the nonprofit. The judge overseeing the criminal case did not find Kobach’s argument persuasive, ruling that Kobach could try to recover money during a post-conviction forfeiture process.
Kobach in March filed a brief to support his appeal of that decision to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City. That appeal is scheduled for oral arguments on June 1.
The Star’s Steve Vockrodt and Bryan Lowry contributed reporting
This story was originally published April 29, 2021 at 10:23 AM with the headline "Republican Kris Kobach, seeking comeback, launches campaign for Kansas attorney general."
