TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) – Democratic leaders in Kansas face another legal battle aimed at forcing them to pick a new U.S. Senate candidate, after the state Supreme Court removed their nominee from the ballot in a move that could hurt three-term incumbent Pat Roberts and Republican hopes for a Senate majority.
The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach must honor Democrat Chad Taylor’s request to be removed from the Nov. 4 ballot. Minutes later, a disgruntled Democratic voter – whose son works on GOP Gov. Sam Brownback’s re-election campaign – filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to require the Democratic Party to name a new candidate.
Some Democrats pushed Taylor out of the race – and don’t want to have a nominee – to leave independent candidate Greg Orman as the only major rival to the 78-year-old Roberts. They view Orman, a 45-year-old Olathe businessman and co-founder of a private equity firm, as a stronger candidate than Taylor, 40, the Topeka-area district attorney, and feared a split in the anti-Roberts vote.
Republicans need a net gain of six seats to take the Senate majority from Democrats, and Kansas is one of about a dozen races nationally that could determine the outcome. Recent opinion polls suggested Roberts may be vulnerable in a head-to-head race with Orman.
Kobach said during a news conference that state law requires party committees to fill candidacy vacancies. The court specifically declined to address that question in Thursday’s decision.