Former Vice President Pence stumps for Schmidt in Wichita as Kelly flaunts Trump praise

Former Vice President Mike Pence urged Republican Kansas voters to elect Attorney General Derek Schmidt as governor during an appearance in Wichita, while Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly pointed to praise she received from former President Donald Trump.

Both candidates traveled to Wichita, the state’s largest city, on Friday trying to appeal to voters in a key battleground county that favored Kelly in 2018 and Trump in 2020.

Pence, the most high profile Republican to campaign for Schmidt, compared Kelly to President Joe Biden at a rally of more than 300 people at B&C Barbeque in Old Town.

“I know Laura Kelly,” Pence said. “She strikes a little bit of a bipartisan pose here at home, but I’m telling you what. If you look carefully, Laura Kelly looks an awful lot like Joe Biden and (Vice President) Kamala Harris.”

The running theme of the rally was to tie Kelly to national figures in the Democratic Party — from Biden to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi — and blame what Schmidt called the “Biden-Democrat philosophy” for a wide range of issues the Kansas governor has little control over, including gas prices, inflation, immigration, violent crime rates and fentanyl overdoses.

“There was a time in the Trump-Pence administration when gasoline was affordable, when inflation was low, when spending was controlled, when taxes were headed down, when we had respect for law and order and for law enforcement,” Schmidt said. “And so much has changed in such a short period of time.”

“We have to hold accountable this Biden-Democrat philosophy that our governor has exercised, making mistake after mistake over the past four years,” Schmidt said. “And we have to show them that there’s a better way forward with Republican leadership.”

Kelly launched a preemptive rebuttal in a full-page ad in The Eagle on Friday morning. The ad welcomed Pence to Kansas along with a May 2020 photograph of Kelly in the White House with Trump. During the visit, Trump praised Kelly for the “fantastic job” she was doing managing the coronavirus pandemic.

Schmidt has been endorsed by Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the assumed front runners for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

The former vice president appeared alongside Schmidt and the rest of Kansas’ Republican delegation, except for Sen. Roger Marshall, who has been campaigning in Georgia this week for embattled Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker.

The visit comes two days after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — one of President Joe Biden’s top lieutenants — rallied in Kansas City on Kelly’s behalf.

Kelly, who has distanced herself from Biden at times, including over a proposed COVID-19 vaccine mandate, was touring a lab facility in the KC metro area and did not make an appearance at the Buttigieg event.

The Kelly-Schmidt contest is one of the closest gubernatorial races in the country this year. The Cook Political Report has deemed it a toss-up. FiveThirtyEight gives Kelly a 61% chance of retaining power.

Pence, who did his constitutionally required duty by certifying the 2020 presidential results, is traveling the country, boosting candidates who moved to block Biden’s victory.

Now Schmidt can be added to that list. As attorney general, Schmidt joined a post-election lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to challenge election procedures in four key swing states that went for Biden.

Dan Heflin of Wichita said he doesn’t blame Pence for not doing more to thwart the lawful certification of Biden as president.

“I think he was doing what he felt was within the law,” Heflin said. “He looked at the law and said ‘This is what my role is.’ I wish they didn’t have the squabble between the two but they did. I hope they square things up again.”

“I loved his time in the vice presidency so I was just really happy to see him,” said Zane Berry, who traveled from Oklahoma City to hear Pence speak.

“He said that he did the right thing according to the Constitution, and from my interpretation of the Constitution, he did do the correct thing.”

John Elmore of Derby said he doesn’t believe the 2020 election was decided fairly, although he believes Pence “did what he could” to keep Trump in office.

“I believe it was rigged — whatever the other word is. They tampered with it,” Elmore said.

He said he’s inclined to trust the outcome of Kansas elections this year, though.

“I think they’re going to be watching it so closely that people will be skeptical about messing with it, so I feel pretty confident,” Elmore said.

“I don’t care about Pence. I care about the fascists that are in office now,” said Lisa Mensch, who held a sign outside the barbecue restaurant in protest.

Mensch said she hopes the momentum from the Aug. 2 vote preserving the right to an abortion in the state constitution will carry over to November.

“That’s why we’re out here,” she said. “To let people know that the fight is still on. It’s not over with. They’re trying to take away our rights.”

Pence ignored an Eagle reporter’s question asking how anti-abortion Kansans should proceed after the failed constitutional amendment.