Kansas native Matt Schlapp would consider running for Senate in 2020 if Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., retires, as is expected.
Schlapp, a Washington lobbyist and chairman of the Conservative Political Action Conference, an influential annual gathering of grassroots conservatives, was fielding calls on Friday about the matter ahead of Roberts’ scheduled afternoon announcement over his political future. The Kansas City Star was reporting that Roberts, 82, would announce his retirement after four terms.
Schlapp, who spent five years as the chief of staff to a Kansas congressman, worked in the office of political affairs for former President George W. Bush. But he has been a strong supporter of President Trump, maintaining close ties to the White House, both personally and through his wife, a Republican operative.
Mercedes Schlapp works in the Trump White House as a communications adviser.
Meanwhile, top Republicans are floating Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as Roberts’ successor, confident he could clear the primary field and win a general election in a state that, in the 2018 midterm elections, saw Democrats win the governor’s mansion and flip a suburban Kansas City House seat. It’s unclear whether the former GOP House member would be interested in leaving the administration to run for Senate.
Other names mentioned as potential Republican candidates include former Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer; Rep. Roger Marshall; and Milton Wolf, who nearly ousted Roberts in the 2014 GOP primary.
