Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has notified the Senate’s top Republican that he will not run for a Kansas seat in 2020.
Pompeo met with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to inform him of the decision on Monday, telling him he does not intend to launch a bid for retiring GOP Sen. Pat Roberts’s seat, according to the New York Times.
His frequent visits to Kansas and reports of meetings with top GOP donors fueled rumors he was considering running. Several top GOP lawmakers, including McConnell, lobbied Pompeo to launch a bid to replace Roberts. McConnell argued to Pompeo that the Senate would be the perfect platform from which to launch a 2024 presidential campaign.
Pompeo, 56, is among a pack of several senior GOP figures already looking past President Trump and positioning themselves for a White House bid in four years’ time.
“He loves doing the job he’s doing right now and feels that things are too volatile with the various situations around the world, particularly with Iran and Iraq, and he wants to make sure he’s in the best spot to serve his country,” a source close to Pompeo said. “He believes that is secretary of state.”
Pompeo’s decision comes days after the United States killed a top Iranian general, placing the U.S.’s Middle East policy in turmoil amid the threat of Iranian retaliation. Trump authorized the drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani last week. Iran later pledged to respond to the U.S. attack, and Trump promised “major retaliation” against Iran if it did so.
Without Pompeo in the Kansas race, former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who was defeated in the state’s 2018 gubernatorial race, is looking to clinch the Republican nomination. But GOP leaders fear he could alienate moderate voters and present Democrats with an opportunity to win a crucial seat in a red state.
