WASHINGTON (AP) – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has told Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that he won’t run for an open Senate seat from Kansas this fall, two people close to McConnell said. Pompeo’s decision complicates Republicans’ chances of holding what should be a guaranteed seat in the deep red state as they battle to retain their slim Senate majority in November’s elections.
The news, disclosed on Monday, came days after the U.S. used an airstrike authorized by President Donald Trump to kill Qassem Soleimani, Iran’s most powerful general and leader of that country’s elite Quds Force. Iran has vowed revenge on the U.S., spurring an international crisis that makes this an awkward time for Pompeo to leave his post and seek elective office.
Pompeo indicated he will not run in a conversation with McConnell on Monday afternoon, the two people said. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private talk. Others familiar with the matter said Pompeo met with McConnell, R-Ky., on Capitol Hill.
A former congressman from Kansas, Pompeo has traveled repeatedly to the state in recent months, and many Washington Republicans had expressed a belief that he would be a candidate.
If he ran, he was considered all but certain to prevail in the Aug. 4 GOP primary and the November general election. Candidates have until June 1 to file for the Kansas Senate race, leaving a theoretical door open for Pompeo to reconsider.