TOPEKA, Kan. — 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 nonprofit 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.
When he was secretary of state, the Legislature empowered Kobach to prosecute voter fraud. 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. The formal campaign kick-off took place in Wichita on Thursday.
Kobach is the first candidate to formally enter the race since 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 1st 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. After defeating then-Gov. Jeff Colyer in the 2018 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 Kansas City Star on Thursday. "And I want the most conservative person that can win a primary and a general election to be our nominee."
Kobach chuckled when told of Marshall's comment.
"I think his sense of the political winds is not accurate," Kobach said.
State 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."
Kobach kicked off his campaign speech by citing his legal background as a lawyer, law professor, and counsel to former Attorney General John Ashcroft as major qualifications.
But the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, a highly influential voice in state Republican politics, issued a statement bordering on an un-endorsement that questioned his legal acumen.
"The Kansas business community has great concerns whether Kris Kobach, as attorney general, can adequately and effectively represent Kansas businesses and individuals successfully in court. Kobach's candidacy puts too much at risk," said the statement by Alan Cobb, chamber CEO and a former senior adviser to the Trump campaign.
As secretary of state, Kobach pushed a hard-line stance on illegal immigration and signaled that will be a major issue again as his campaign unfolds.
"If the Biden administration tries to relocate illegal aliens to Kansas in violation of the standards of federal law, he's going to have to get through me first," he said.
Kobach's litigation record on immigration is mixed.
He won cases in the federal 8th Circuit Court of Appeals defending laws he wrote for cities to require prospective employers to verify citizenship of job applicants and prohibiting landlords from providing shelter to the undocumented. But he lost the same types of cases in other circuits.
"Attorneys on both sides thought the Supreme Court would decide the circuit split and take one of the cases, but it never happened," he said. "So today, there remains a split where in some parts of the country, cities can take action to stop illegal immigration and in other parts of the country, cities cannot."
Kobach unsuccessfully tried to defend a state law he proposed that required people to show proof of citizenship to register to vote.
He insisted on personally defending the law in federal court, where he was found in contempt and a judge said he had acted "disingenuously," saying he failed to treat the voters affected by an ongoing court case the same as all other registered voters in accordance with a previous court order.
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 on the United States-Mexico border. Their effort was meant to complement Trump's larger wall project, an attempt to frustrate the efforts of those seeking to enter the U.S. from Mexico.
We Build the Wall's principals, who included Trump adviser Stephen Bannon and military veteran Brian Kolfage, were charged in the U.S. Southern District of New York in 2020 with diverting the nonprofit's 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 so he could pay himself 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 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York City. That appeal is scheduled for oral arguments on June 1.
