TOPEKA, Kan. — Former Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer, disclosing a prostate cancer diagnosis, dropped out of the Republican race for governor Monday and endorsed his chief rival, Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
The decision may set Schmidt on course to be the party’s nominee to face Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly in 2022. While it’s early and other candidates could jump in, Schmidt currently faces no other significant opponents, raising the possibility Republicans will avoid a bitter, drawn-out primary fight.
The announcement also extinguishes Colyer’s immediate hopes of a political comeback after holding the governor’s office for just under a year. He narrowly lost the 2018 GOP nomination to Kris Kobach, who went on to lose to Kelly.
Colyer, who rose to prominence as Gov. Sam Brownback’s lieutenant governor, faced a potentially uphill battle if he had stayed in the race. Schmidt had secured the support of many high-level Republicans, including former U.S. Sens. Pat Roberts and Bob Dole.
Then came a cancer diagnosis for the 61-year-old Johnson County plastic surgeon.
“While I have always focused on helping others, for the next few weeks I am going to focus on my health,” Colyer said in a statement. “I was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer like my father and grandfather. After treatment, I am confident for a full recovery. Given these challenges, Ruth and I have decided to withdraw from the Governor’s race.”
Colyer had entered the race in March, enlisting Mary Eisenhower -- President Dwight Eisenhower’s granddaughter -- as his treasurer. His most prominent endorsement came from Sen. Roger Marshall.
In launching his campaign, Colyer said Kansas needed “an authentic, effective conservative” as governor. Colyer had attacked Schmidt as the lesser conservative in the race, saying at one point that the attorney general had “spent over 20 years carrying water for the most liberal elements of the Kansas Republican Party.”
But on Monday, he pledged his full support to the attorney general.
“It’s time for Republicans to come together, rally around Derek Schmidt, and reclaim Cedar Crest,” Colyer said.
Schmidt on Monday called Colyer a “longtime friend who has led an exemplary life of service.” He expressed appreciation for Colyer’s endorsement and echoed his call for unity — signaling he hopes the withdrawal may serve as a moment when Republicans coalesce around his candidacy.
“The Kansas governor’s primary is Derek Schmidt’s race to lose,” said Mark Dugan, a Kansas Republican consultant and Colyer’s former chief of staff.
Dugan said more candidates were likely to enter the race but a stronger sense of unity around Schmidt would harm Kelly’s odds of reelection.
“I think she was counting on a bloody primary with a weakened Republican nominee,” he said. “I think the likelihood of that happening got vastly lower today.”
Kelly wished Colyer a speedy recovery.
“Dr. Colyer and I may have our disagreements. But one thing we can all agree on: the need to defeat cancer,” the governor said in a statement.
Republicans are eager to take on Kelly, who they believe has been weakened by her handling of the pandemic, which included a statewide mask mandate and stay-at-home orders in the first few weeks of the crisis. She is the only incumbent Democratic governor up for reelection in a state that President-elect Joe Biden lost in November. For its part, Kelly’s campaign has used the idea she is vulnerable repeatedly in fundraising messages to supporters.
“Today, Kansas Republicans are unified in their desire to defeat Governor Laura Kelly,” Mike Kuckelman, chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, said in a statement.
Kelly’s campaign had about $655,000 cash on hand at the end of 2020 -- the latest campaign finance numbers that are available. Schmidt had about $176,000 in his attorney general campaign account, but campaign finance rules would have generally prohibited him from allocating the money toward his gubernatorial bid.
Colyer, who never terminated his gubernatorial campaign operation before entering the race, had $85 in cash. Campaigns aren’t required to report updated numbers until the end of the year.
Through a spokesman, Colyer declined to be interviewed Monday. The former governor’s political future remains unclear, but Republicans lauded his legacy following the announcement.
“He was part of all corners of the state of Kansas,” said Rep. Ken Rahjes, an Agra Republican who said Colyer’s family farm was in his district.
Former colleagues of Colyer’s praised his personable approach and humanitarian work with the International Medical Corp. In campaign emails last week, Colyer was highlighting his work with the group in Afghanistan in the 80s during the Soviet-Afghan war.
As lieutenant governor, Colyer oversaw the transition of the state’s Medicaid system to KanCare. As governor, he sought to improve the state’s Department for Children and Families and signed into law a major infusion of funding into K-12 schools in response to a long-running lawsuit alleging the state underfunded public education.
“(The transition to KanCare) has been a successful shift in Kansas policy and it was significant,” said Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican. “When I think of (Colyer) that’s what I think of as his biggest accomplishment from a policy perspective.”
But Colyer’s record would have also come under fresh scrutiny if he had stayed in the race. Brownback, who championed aggressive income tax cuts that led to severe budget shortfalls, remains a toxic figure for many Kansans and Colyer’s opponents would have certainly played up his role in the Brownback administration.
Colyer was also previously the subject of a federal grand jury investigation stemming from questions about a $500,000 loan he reportedly made to Brownback’s 2014 reelection campaign. Colyer was never charged and in 2015 the U.S. attorney’s office took the unusual step of confirming no charges would be filed in June 2015.
Colyer’s announcement comes a week after The Wall Street Journal reported the former governor’s ties to Yemen Crisis Watch, a group that has come under scrutiny by the Department of Justice for alleged undisclosed ties to Qatar. Colyer, the Journal reported, testified to congressional staff on behalf of the organization. It’s unclear what role, if anything, he held in the organization.
Even after exiting the race, Colyer continues to chair the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services. Former President Donald Trump appointed him to the position last year.
“Jeff Colyer won’t be going anywhere,” Dugan said. “He’s committed to this state and he will continue to stay engaged and contribute any way he can.”
———
