Kris Kobach narrowly wins Kansas GOP primary for attorney general in political comeback

Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach on Tuesday won the Republican nomination for state attorney general, promising to weaponize the office against the Biden administration.

Kobach’s primary victory marks the 56-year-old’s first political win since he lost the Republican U.S. Senate race two years ago and re-establishes him as a force within the Kansas Republican Party.

But the hard-right candidate now faces Democrat Chris Mann, a former police officer and Wyandotte County prosecutor. Mann ran unopposed in the Democratic primary.

Democrats, independents and some Republicans may rally to Mann’s side, fearful that Kobach will destabilize the Kansas Attorney General’s Office if he wins the November general election.

Kobach, whose last stint in elected office ended in early 2019, defeated state Sen. Kellie Warren of Leawood and Tony Mattivi, a former federal prosecutor. The AP called the race, which had been close most of the night, just before midnight.

“This was a race in which the establishment came against me from the very first day of the campaign with guns blazing,” Kobach told The Star on Tuesday night after declaring victory. “This result shows that the swamp in Topeka cannot pick the candidates and decide who wins. It shows that the people of Kansas can say no to the establishment.”

Warren conceded and congratulated Kobach on the victory.

The winner of the November general election will determine the future direction of the Kansas Attorney General’s Office after more than a decade of Republican control. Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican first elected in 2010, ran for governor instead of campaigning for re-election.

Democrats have had a much tougher time winning the office than Republicans. Only four Democrats have ever been elected attorney general of Kansas.

Kobach came under intense attacks from Warren and Mattivi, who sought to exploit Republican skepticism of Kobach. In past races, opponents have criticized Kobach as incompetent and a Republican who loses elections — and the attorney general’s race was no exception.

Kobach lost the 2018 Kansas governor’s race to Democrat Laura Kelly. Kobach then lost the 2020 Republican U.S. Senate race to Roger Marshall, at the time a western Kansas congressman. Marshall went on to win the general election.

The former state official maintained a hardcore base of support, however, and the attorney general’s primary offered a race well-suited to his conservative positions.

Kobach promised to constantly look for new ways to sue the Biden administration. He also said he would advocate for laws “to make Kansas the most pro-life state in America” — a comment that appeared to be code for an abortion ban. That will be more difficult now with the defeat of the Value Them Both amendment Tuesday.

Finally, Kobach committed to aggressively prosecuting voter fraud. As secretary of state, Kobach cultivated a national reputation promoting a state law that required Kansas residents to prove their citizenship to register to vote. Federal courts later struck down the law, but Kobach also convinced Kansas legislators to authorize the secretary of state’s office to prosecute voter fraud.

Kobach prosecuted a handful of cases, most involving instances of double voting. If Kobach becomes attorney general, he would once again have the power to bring cases.

After the polls closed Tuesday, Mann said he was “honored” to be the Democratic nominee, writing on Facebook that he hoped to refocus the AG’s office on “public safety, not politics.”

“The stakes are too high to entrust the top law enforcement office in Kansas to a politician,” he said. “Violent crime has been on the rise for a decade, Kansans are being preyed upon by corporations and prescription drug companies, and at every turn politics threatens to distract and disrupt the priorities of the attorney general.”

Throughout the campaign, Warren, who chairs the Kansas Senate Judiciary Committee, portrayed herself as a proven conservative fighter who vocally supported the Value Them Both amendment, which would have stripped abortion rights from the Kansas Constitution had voters approved it Tuesday. Voters, however, overwhelmingly rejected the amendment.

Warren will remain in the Kansas Senate, as she is in the middle of her four-year term.

“Pat and I would like to express our deepest gratitude to each of our supporters,” she said in a statement Tuesday. “Seeing so many good people devote their time, talent and treasure to my campaign has been humbling and a great honor.”

In contrast to Kobach and Warren, Mattivi promised a more traditional approach to the AG’s office. He emphasized the law enforcement elements of the position and the fact that he was the only candidate to have previously worked in the office.

The Star’s Katie Bernard contributed to this report.