By Virgina Kruta
The 2014 midterm elections are crucial to both parties, particularly where it concerns control of the Senate. Republicans hope to pick up enough seats to wrest control for the first time in nearly a decade, while Democrats need to hold on to their majority if they wish to continue to block every piece of legislation presented by the Republican controlled House.
It comes as no surprise, then, that Missouri Democrat Senator Claire McCaskill would take an interest in the Senate race in Kansas – especially since it is one of the few Senate seats that may be lost by an incumbent Republican.
Until today, the Kansas Senate race was a three-way contest between incumbent Senator Pat Roberts, Democrat Chad Taylor, and Independent challenger Greg Orman. Nearly two weeks ago, citing a financially weak campaign, Taylor announced his intention to drop out of the race. Orman, even before the announcement, was doing well in head to head polling against Senator Roberts.
It seems straightforward enough, but the complications quickly mounted.
First, Taylor’s decision to leave the senate race came on the heels of a meeting with Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill. The general consensus is that she likely encouraged him to leave the race since Orman was polling better against Roberts. It would be better for Democrats to take the loss if there was a better chance of the Republican incumbent losing to an independent.
Second, Kansas law states that candidates cannot be removed from the ballot without either a death certificate or a declaration of their inability to fulfill the duties of the office if elected. Even if Taylor has withdrawn from the race, if his name remains on the ballot, there will be people who vote for him anyway.
Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who has ties to Roberts’ reelection campaign, claimed that the criteria for removing Taylor’s name from the ballot had not been met. As of this afternoon, however, the state Supreme Court overturned his decision and removed Taylor’s name.
The irony here is that Senator McCaskill, whose role in Taylor’s withdrawal may or may not border on “convincing,” accused Secretary of State Kobach of “putting his finger on the scales” when he refused to scrub Taylor’s name from the ballot in the first place. But I suppose allegedly manipulating someone to leave a race for political gain is somehow nobler than allegedly manipulating someone to stay in a race for the same reasons.
In the wake of this decision, Kobach says that in order to comply fully with Kansas law, the Democrats must submit a replacement candidate. If they fail to do so in time for overseas absentee ballots to be mailed out, Kobach has said that his office will pursue any legal avenues available to it.
Democrats will likely fight this move, considering how little time is left before the election. They seem to be moving to throw their weight behind the Independent candidate, Olathe businessman Greg Orman, hoping that the lack of a “D” on the ticket won’t leave Democrat voters feeling disenfranchised enough to make them boycott the race altogether.
So it seems that this midterm, the Kansas Senate race will be one to watch. Where else can you find Democrats trying to get their own party off the ticket, Republicans trying to keep a Democrat on the ticket, and an Independent who is getting most of his support from out of state politicians from one of the other parties?
——
Virgina Kruta is a small business owner, veteran, blogger, and holds a BS in History and Political Science.
