President Trump on Monday threw his support behind Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s gubernatorial bid ahead of the GOP primary, giving the Trump ally a full-throated endorsement despite hesitations from establishment Republicans over Kobach’s far-right policy positions.
“Kris Kobach, a strong and early supporter of mine, is running for Governor of the Great State of Kansas,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “He is a fantastic guy who loves his State and our Country – he will be a GREAT Governor and has my full & total Endorsement! Strong on Crime, Border & Military. VOTE TUESDAY!”
Kris Kobach, a strong and early supporter of mine, is running for Governor of the Great State of Kansas. He is a fantastic guy who loves his State and our Country – he will be a GREAT Governor and has my full & total Endorsement! Strong on Crime, Border & Military. VOTE TUESDAY!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 6, 2018
Kobach, along with Vice President Mike Pence, led Trump’s decommissioned panel on election integrity before it was shut down amid numerous legal challenges.
Trump created the commission shortly after his inauguration, claiming without evidence that “millions” of people voted illegally for his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election.
Kobach’s anti-immigration posture led to his name being floated as a possible Department of Homeland Security Secretary before Trump offered the job to now-White House chief of staff John Kelly.
Gov. Jeff Colyer, against whom Kobach is running, was lieutenant governor to Republican Gov. Sam Brownback. He became governor in January after Brownback, being term-limited, decided to join the Trump administration as the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.
The winner of Tuesday’s Republican primary, itself a crowded field of seven candidates, will face one of five potential Democratic contenders and, pending Greg Orman’s qualification for the ballot, one well-funded independent candidate in November.
