Kansas Secretary of State Republican primary: J.R. Claeys vs. Kris Kobach

J.R. Claeys is a Republican candidate for Kansas Secretary of State.  By all accounts, if it were most other races, Claeys would be a strong candidate: he talks like a conservative, and he has a strong resume for his young age of 31.  But Claeys’ opponent is Kris Kobach, whose background and qualifications are as impressive as one can find, anywhere:

1. Degrees from Harvard, Oxford, and Yale.
2. Law professor.
3. Former city councilman in Kansas’ second-largest city.
4. White House Fellow.
5. Former state Republican party chairman.
6. Fred Thompson endorsement.
7. Immigration policy adviser to 2008 presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.
8. Current KCMO 710 radio host.
9. Hired by cities around the country to fight illegal immigration.

Kobach even performs well in a hostile Comedy Central environment.  The picture below is from Kobach’s appearance on Stephen Colbert’s “The Colbert Report.”

Kobach is well-known around the entire state.  Kobach has near-universal name ID in Kansas’ Third Congressional District, the largest of four districts.  Meanwhile, J.R. Claeys has a few legitimate disadvantages:

1. He’s never held elected office.
2. A decade ago he was an active Democrat, campaigning for Democrats.  This is hardly unforgivable, considering that Claeys was college-aged at the time, but it’s not particularly helpful to have on one’s resume during a first-time campaign.
3. According to Claeys, former Governor Bill Graves encouraged Claeys to run.  The Republican Graves was a key reason why Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius was first elected in 2002; only reluctantly and after a long delay did Graves endorse the Republican nominee, then-State Treasurer Tim Shallenburger.

It is extremely unlikely that J.R. Claeys will win the 2010 GOP primary against Kris Kobach.  But Kobach’s general election is expected to be reasonably competitive.  The expected Democratic nominee for Secretary of State is Chris Biggs, a current cabinet member of Governor Mark Parkinson and the 2002 Democratic nominee for Attorney General.  Biggs has existing name ID, and will be well-funded.  Not to mention, the Left’s incoherent hatred of Kobach will be running at full capacity — from Steve Rose in Mission Hills to Maureen Dowd in DC, there will be a genuine, concerted effort among liberals to defeat Kobach.

Claeys being in the race may cause Kobach to spend campaign dollars and political capital in the primary, when he would prefer to spend these resources in the general election against the liberal Chris Biggs. There are real arguments to be made that Claeys would benefit the Republican party, future public policy, and his own political career by exiting the 2010 primary race against Kobach.

Related Posts:

• Sen. Fred Thompson endorses Kris Kobach for Secretary of State
• Update on J.R. Claeys: He’s not going anywhere, will remain in the Secretary of State’s race; Bill Graves rumor not true
• KTKA on Kobach: Ex-GOP leader running for Kansas secretary of state
• Claeys on victory in Republican straw poll
• Sam Hartle, Kansas City Kansan: KCK’s Kris Kobach wins JoCo GOP straw poll in Olathe

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 9:43 am and is filed under Elections, Opinion, Editorial, and Analysis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.