When Mitch McConnell pitches Mike Pompeo on running for the Senate in 2020, a periodic occurrence, the majority leader does not fail to mention that the chamber is a great steppingstone should the secretary of state harbor higher aspirations.
Fearing former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach could win the Republican nomination to succeed retiring Sen. Pat Roberts and put an otherwise red seat in jeopardy, McConnell and other party insiders are desperate for Pompeo to run. But concern about the politically divisive Kobach aside, Republican strategists tend to agree that running for Senate is the better play for Pompeo if his White House ambitions are real, especially if President Trump loses reelection.
For Pompeo, a Senate seat would help him stay relevant heading into the 2024 presidential campaign. He would be in demand for TV and conservative talk radio appearances, allowing him to cultivate grassroots enthusiasm and internet fundraising.
“It keeps him in front of the public,” said David McIntosh, a Republican former congressman who runs the Club for Growth, a conservative group encouraging Pompeo to run for Senate.
Pompeo, 55, was a congressman from Kansas before Trump tapped him for CIA director and, later, secretary of state. According to sources, he plans to spend the holidays considering whether to move home and run for the Senate in 2020, although an announcement would wait for the conclusion of the impeachment trial, set to begin in early January.
Earlier this month, during a trip to Louisville, where McConnell lives, Pompeo and the majority leader had an extended discussion about a possible Senate campaign. In the past few days, the secretary of state unveiled personal Twitter and Instagram accounts. At least among hopeful Republicans, Pompeo’s expansion of his social media presence stoked speculation that he is leaning toward a Senate run.
“He’d hit the ground running,” Roberts told reporters Tuesday when asked if the Senate might be a springboard for Pompeo.
Kobach’s outspoken opposition to illegal immigration has generated a backlash in the vote-rich Kansas City suburbs of eastern Kansas.
Over several months, as Pompeo has declined to rule out running for the Senate, some Republicans have wondered why he would want to rejoin a dysfunctional Congress.
Once he leaves his role as secretary of state, he could spend a couple of years out of the government writing a book, giving speeches, serving on corporate boards, and generally staying above the fray on Capitol Hill. That is the route Nikki Haley has taken.
But even a Republican lawmaker, requesting anonymity in order to speak candidly, who questioned why Pompeo would choose to become a backbench senator and saddle himself with a potentially controversial voting record, conceded that doing so would be the easiest way to ensure relevancy and publicity in advance of 2024.
“A Senate seat is relevant every day for six years. A book is relevant for about a week,” a Republican strategist said.
If Pompeo runs, polls suggest he would win the nomination and the general election. Kobach, a Trump ally who lost his bid for governor in 2018, might even drop out.
A late October poll conducted for the National Republican Senatorial Committee showed 43% of Republican primary voters backing Kobach, according to the Wall Street Journal. But with Pompeo in the race, he tallied only 17%, compared to 54% for the secretary of state.
