Pivot Point: GOP challengers will knock Kobach for commission’s fall

It became obvious that President Donald Trump’s election integrity commission, created eight months ago, was having a tough time getting out of the mud. When vice chairman and Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach asked states for personal information on registered voters, many states (including Kansas) wouldn’t or couldn’t comply.

Wednesday’s dissolution of the commission — the Department of Homeland Security will now study the issues — was hailed as a victory for voter rights by some and a simple shift of resources by Kobach and the Trump Administration.

What’s next for Kobach — after filing illegal voting chargesThursday against two Kansans — is intensifying his run for the governor’s office. He’s the perceived frontrunner in a crowded field of Republican candidates likely to pounce upon the commission’s success at ticking off civil rights groups and secretaries of state.

“He’s running for governor and one of the highest-profile jobs he’s had in his career was just disbanded,” Washburn political scientist Bob Beatty told The Kansas City Star’s Bryan Lowry. “So that’s not very flattering.”

Kobach is also the defendant in a U.S. District Court suit saying he violated the Constitution in requiring proof of citizenship from Kansas voters. That case is scheduled to begin in March.

This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Pivot Point: GOP challengers will knock Kobach for commission’s fall."