Trump ally rejects president's endorsement ahead of midterms: 'Don't think it's necessary'

TOPEKA — Attorney General Kris Kobach doesn’t plan to request an endorsement from President Donald Trump in the November general election.

Kobach is running for reelection against Democratic nominee Chris Mann, an attorney and former police officer who lost to Kobach in 2022.

Kobach, a prominent Trump ally since endorsing his presidential campaign in 2016, said there was no doubt Trump’s backing could serve as a powerful signal to voters in Kansas.

“On the Republican side, it’s been a very positive factor in deciding who wins the primary. Not only in Kansas, but across the country,” Kobach said.

In 2017, Trump reciprocated Kobach’s loyalty by appointing him vice chair of the Commission on Election Integrity. He endorsed Kobach’s unsuccessful candidacy for governor in 2018. In 2020, Trump declined to embrace Kobach or any other GOP primary candidate in the U.S. Senate campaign won by Roger Marshall. The president also didn’t get involved in Kobach’s successful campaign for attorney general four years ago.

Kobach, of rural Lecompton, said he didn’t request the president’s blessing ahead of the August primary. He had no primary opponent. And, he said, there was no plan to ask the second-term president for an endorsement this fall.

“No, I don’t think it’s necessary,” Kobach said.

In 2022, Kobach secured 50.8% of the nearly 1 million votes cast in the November general election for attorney general, compared to Mann’s 49.2%.

Mann's current campaign for attorney general has been endorsed by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, more than a dozen labor unions and a bipartisan coalition of law enforcement officers.

“Kris Kobach’s repeated failures over the past four years have added up to the degree that even his closest allies aren’t jumping in to save him,” said Leah Rymer, a spokesperson for the Mann campaign. “He has failed to hold greedy corporations that stole from Kansans accountable. He has failed to keep Kansans safe from violent criminals. He has repeatedly failed to deliver on his promises. Kobach’s allies are seeing the writing on the wall in this race.”

Trump carried Kansas in each of the past three presidential elections. Trump prevailed over Democrat Kamala Harris by taking 57.1% of the vote in 2024, defeated Democrat Joe Biden with 56.2% in 2020 and outran Democrat Hillary Clinton at 56.6% in 2016.

An August poll by YouGov/Economist indicated Trump held a net job performance rating of -17 among Kansans. The level of displeasure within Kansas was -4 in 2024. In the August survey, only Wyoming, Idaho and West Virginia had a majority who approved of the president’s work in the second term. Those states went for Trump in the previous three elections.

Kobach, who has been endorsed by 51 Kansas sheriffs, said the political calculus regarding use of endorsements was tied to the popularity of the organization or individual lending their name and credibility to a candidate.

“A lot of it depends on the mood of the electorate,” Kobach said. “A lot of this is not rocket science. It’s just looking at the president’s approval numbers. If your president has super high approval, then a candidate may be more willing or wishing to broadcast the president’s endorsement.”

“There are some states where, depending on the president’s popularity, a candidate may, you know, advertise that endorsement in the general election or not advertise that endorsement in the general election,” he added.

Kobach said he had taken legal positions in opposition to Trump’s Department of Justice. In August, he was part of a 15-state campaign to stop the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives from enforcing registration requirements for gun suppressors and short-barreled weapons that conflicted with the Second Amendment.

“We’ve gone up against the Trump administration in court and have beaten them,” Kobach said.

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.