Democrats horrified by the thought that provocative conservative Kris Kobach could be Kansas' next governor are attacking a Kansas City-area businessman whose independent candidacy could thwart their ambitions and help elect the Republican.
Their reaction to Greg Orman, the 49-year-old founder of a private equity fund, contrasts sharply with Democrats' embrace of Orman during a U.S. Senate run in 2014 that garnered national attention. This time, Democrats have launched a legal challenge aimed at removing Orman from the November ballot, and a state board plans to consider it Thursday.
Orman expects to tap discontent with the two major parties to become his red state's first independent governor, and supporters contend political scientists and partisan activists greatly underestimate voters' disgust with the hyper-partisanship in U.S. politics. [...]
A top Democrat's aide filed a formal objection with the state this week questioning the validity of petitions signed by registered voters that Orman submitted to the state to gain his ballot spot. Orman's campaign has called the objection "frivolous." [...]
"Voters are going to have a clear choice in the fall," Orman said during a recent interview. "And it's going to be between someone who's an independent and an outsider and is going to serve them and someone who is a lifetime, career partisan politician."
Kobach, 52, the Kansas secretary of state, defeated Gov. Jeff Colyer in the Republican primary after being tweet-endorsed by Trump. Kobach promises to slash taxes, push for tough state laws against illegal immigration and sustain strong anti-abortion laws. An advocate of strict voter ID laws, he was vice chairman of a now-disbanded Trump commission on voter fraud.
The Democratic nominee, state Sen. Laura Kelly, 68, of Topeka, sees Kobach's brand of conservatism as a threat to public schools and government services. She supports abortion rights.
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Kansas Senate Democratic Leader Anthony Hensley — whose chief of staff filed the legal challenge to Orman's candidacy — derided Orman as a "vulture capitalist." But Orman said his approach is to hold businesses and grow them.
His relationship with prominent Democrats was less contentious four years ago as he ran as an independent against veteran Republican U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts.
The Democratic nominee dropped out after Orman did well in early polling, and the party fought successfully in court against efforts — by Kobach — to force it to name a replacement candidate. Roberts ultimately won, but only after the GOP brought in big stars like Sarah Palin and made his race about regaining control of the U.S. Senate.
Afterward, Orman wrote a book, "A Declaration of Independents," about breaking the "two-party stranglehold" on American politics.
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