Power

Kris Kobach, Voter Suppression Champion, Launches Kansas Gubernatorial Bid

Kobach is co-chair of President Trump’s “Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity” to investigate unfounded allegations of widespread voter fraud.

The Kansas secretary of state has a history of pushing voter restrictions, including proof-of-citizenship measures—many of which have landed him on the losing side of court cases. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Republican Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach—a leading proponent of policies that disproportionately suppress voting among people of color—launched his Kansas gubernatorial campaign on Thursday. 

Speaking in Lenexa, Kansas, Kobach “outlined three issues he will tackle in his campaign: a culture of corruption in Kansas politics, taxation and illegal immigration,” according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. All three issues are all highlighted on Kobach’s campaign site.

Kobach reportedly spoke out against what he called a “culture of corruption” in the state’s GOP-dominated legislature. Borrowing a phrase from President Trump, he called to “drain the swamp.” Kobach criticized state Sen. Anthony Hensley, the Democratic minority leader of the state senate, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported. 

“It’s pretty ironic that Kris Kobach would question my public service record when he has been nothing more than a part time Secretary of State who is the master of voter suppression,” Hensley said in a statement responding to Kobach. “It is also politically convenient for Kris Kobach to be in favor of addressing the revolving door with legislators becoming lobbyists. Since 2007, I have introduced bills to close the revolving door. On these bills, Kobach was nowhere to be found.”

“Kris Kobach has proven that he is incapable of draining the swamp because he is neck deep in the swamp,” Hensley said. 

Kobach in May was named co-chair of Trump’s “Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity” to investigate unfounded allegations of widespread voter fraud. Though there is no evidence of systematic illegal voting, the commission was assigned, according to the president’s executive order, to “study the registration and voting processes used in Federal elections” and make recommendations, including on whether “vulnerabilities in voting systems and practices used for Federal elections … could lead to improper voter registrations and improper voting” or voter fraud.

The inclusion of Kobach in the commission’s leadership came as little surprise to observers, given the Kansas secretary of state’s history of pushing voter restrictions, including proof-of-citizenship measures—many of which have landed him on the losing side of court cases.