Tag: chad taylor
Kansas Democrat Chad Taylor’s Name Ordered Off Ballot

Kansas Democrat Chad Taylor’s Name Ordered Off Ballot

By Kurtis Lee, Los Angeles Times

In a blow to Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, the Kansas Supreme Court on Thursday struck the name of a Democrat from the November ballot, pitting the embattled incumbent against a well-funded and surging independent.

Democrat Chad Taylor, a district attorney from the Topeka area, exited the race earlier this month in a move that elevated independent businessman Greg Orman. Despite Taylor’s effort to remove his name from the ballot, the state’s Republican secretary of state, Kris Kobach, declined the request on technical grounds.

Taylor’s attorney argued earlier this week that the Democrat complied with the law when he quit the Senate race, citing language Taylor used in a letter announcing his withdrawal.

Democrats accused Kobach of playing partisan politics, hoping to weaken Orman’s challenge by keeping Taylor’s name on the ballot and potentially splitting the anti-Roberts votes.

Roberts struggled through a difficult primary against a Tea Party challenger and has suffered from perceptions he had grown detached from the state after more than 30 years in Washington.

In a press conference this week, Kobach told reporters state law allows him the right to appoint a replacement for the Democrat, though he did not say if he would do so.

Ballots are set to be printed and mailed to overseas voters in the coming days.

As control of the Senate hangs in the balance this fall, national Democrats and Republicans have focused on Kansas, a strongly Republican state, as an improbable battleground. Republicans stand a good chance of capturing the six seats needed to take control of the Senate, but a loss in Kansas would complicate their efforts.

Roberts is not alone in his tough re-election fight.

Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, who has faced GOP defections over his aggressively conservative agenda — including tax cuts that have badly strained state finances — faces a stiff challenge from Democratic state Rep. Paul Davis.

“This is huge for Democrats, absolutely huge. It changes the dynamic of the race,” said Ken Ciboski, a political science professor at Wichita State University.

Ciboski added, “Kansas is certainly playing on the national level now.”

Photo: J. Stephen Conn via Flickr

Democrats See Chance In Kansas Senate Race — After Democrat Drops Out

Democrats See Chance In Kansas Senate Race — After Democrat Drops Out

By Lisa Mascaro, Tribune Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON — The topsy-turvy race for the Senate in Kansas took another turn Wednesday when the lackluster Democratic candidate dropped out, elevating an independent newcomer to battle incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts this fall.

The sudden narrowing of what had been a three-way race could give Democrats a rare pickup opportunity in conservative Kansas during an election cycle that favors Republicans. The GOP is increasingly favored to net six seats to gain control of the Senate.

“There’s obviously an opportunity here,” said a Democratic strategist, who asked for anonymity to frankly discuss the situation. “Roberts is clearly very vulnerable.”

Democrat Chad Taylor, a two-term district attorney from the county that includes Topeka, had run a lackluster campaign with little funding and less backing from national Democrats.

“Thanks to our supporters — financial, spiritual, and emotional,” Taylor said in a Twitter message late Wednesday.

His decision to step aside opens the race to Greg Orman, a management consultant. As a young man, Orman was a fan of H. Ross Perot, who ran a strong presidential campaign as an independent in 1992, but more recently he talked with Kansas Democrats about making a run against Roberts in 2007. He has spent some of his own money on the campaign.

The move in Kansas represents the second time this week that a Democrat in a three-person race has deferred to an independent candidate to try to unseat a Republican incumbent.

Tuesday in Alaska, Democrat Byron Mallott agreed to drop his campaign and run for lieutenant governor on a ticket with Bill Walker, an independent. The two agreed that joining forces was the only way to defeat Republican Gov. Sean Parnell, Mallott said. “I could see no way forward to win in a three-way race,” he said.

Seeking a fourth term in Kansas, Roberts has struggled against criticism that he has become out of touch with voters, particularly after it was reported that he no longer owns a home in the state, but rents a room from a supporter.

Roberts last month fended off a primary challenge from Milton Wolf, a doctor and tea party-backed conservative, who had his own troubles after it was disclosed that he posted X-ray photos to his Facebook page.

Roberts’ campaign manager, Leroy Towns, called Taylor’s withdrawal from the race a “corrupt bargain” with national Democrats to push Orman, who he said is not an independent, but “a liberal Democrat by experience and by philosophy.”

Democrats nationally have not supported any candidate in the race.

Staff writer David Lauter contributed to this report.

Photo via WikiCommons

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