Kobach says Taylor stays on ballot for U.S. Senate in Kansas

[brooklynite]

Source: Kansas City Star

Chad Taylor filed paperwork Wednesday to pull his name off Kansas ballots for U.S. Senate. On Thursday, Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach said the Democrat’s name must remain.

Kansas law means “we now have no choice” but to put Taylor’s name on the ballot, he told reporters at an afternoon news conference. “The law is the law.”

Kobach cited a Kansas statute which requires a withdrawing candidate to declare or she is “incapable” of serving if elected. Taylor’s letter, he said, did not contain that language. Rather, Taylor simply referenced the state law in his letter.

The news complicates the fast-shifting dynamics of the contest.

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article1512707.html

[big_dog]

1. Stu Rothenberg just moved Kansas (!!) Senate to 'tossup' category this morning

Pat Roberts: The Most Vulnerable Republican Senator http://blogs.rollcall.com/rothenblog/pat-roberts-is-the-most-vulnerable-republican-senator-in-the-country/?dcz=

[villager]

2. Wow -- Republicans desperate to skewer any law to hold on to "elected" positions

Hopefully this can be used to backfire on them.

But I've hoped such things before.

[razorman]

19. To be fair, I am not seeing underhanded trickery here. It looks like the R's

are simply taking advantage of the law, just as we would if the roles were reversed. "Politics ain't beanbag." It seems to me that Taylor just can't seem to do anything right. "Sometimes you eat the bear. Sometimes the bear eats you."

[villager]

25. Sadly, the Dems rarely do, when the roles are reversed

The Repubbies are constantly playing hardball.

We're constantly issuing apologies.

[RKP5637]

26. Quite true! Democrats would say 'pretty please,' do you mind if we do this, do we have

your permission. Can we, can we?

[YarnAddict]

28. Um, Torricelli/Lautenberg???

IIRC, after Torricelli had to drop out, Lautenberg's name was added to the ballot, in spite of the fact that the deadline was looooooooong past.

[razorman]

36. Although not an exact comparison, I was also reminded of that race

when this came up. Neither party has clean hands. But, hell; if I were in that game, I'd probably be the worst of the bunch.

[YarnAddict]

37. Probably part of the personality

To want to compete at that level, they probably have to be pretty ruthless, and willing to bend and/or break rules. And with so much riding on the outcome, they all believe they have to win, no matter what.

[Dont call me Shirley]

3. When is KS getting rid of this crazed loon?

[big_dog]

6. Kansas hasnt elected a Democratic Senator since the Roosevelt years

could be huge in holding the senate

[Dont call me Shirley]

9. Yes, but they did elect a democratic governor.

So Kansans are capable of saneness.

I was refering to Kobach, not Taylor or Roberts; although Roberts is a crazed loon as well.

[RKP5637]

29. Kansas has eroded so badly. Someone on another site told me to search fuckKansas.

Last edited Fri Sep 5, 2014, 04:18 PM - Edit history (1)

I did it, the world hates Kansas, and it's because of these damn fools Kansans elect. A constant WTF. I would not in the least be surprised to see Roberts reelected. Hell, they will probably reelect Brownback again too.

Far too many Kansans are too trusting, too faithful and I'm convinced quite a few think they are still living with Eisenhower type republicans. Meanwhile, their entire state is being systematically destroyed by the diabolical cretins they elect.

[Dont call me Shirley]

38. The shitstorm of Koch-style fascism started in Kansas. WTF is the matter with Kansas

would be a more accurate title for Thomas Frank's infamous book.

Prison industrial complex state. It's a sick state of mind in Kansas. The slave-owner billionaires have certainly won the civil war there, turning the Free-State into the Your-Freedom-Must-Be-Purchased State.

Come on Kansans, grow a set and elect sane state leaders.

[RKP5637]

39. And, TPTB in Kansas want this to be the template for ALL of the US, seriously! n/t

[Dont call me Shirley]

40. Randianism on growth hormones!

[yallerdawg]

4. Partisan Republican hack.

Anything to contribute to the disarray and apparent advantage of winning rather than allowing a fair election. Split the vote and the Republican wins is why Taylor wanted to drop out of race.

Rig the system, and count on us to just go along as usual.

[KansDem]

5. Kobach is hoping Taylor will pull votes from Orman...

...who leads Roberts by 10 points in a one-on-one fight.

Orman’s candidacy, buoyed by television commercials and social media, has received national attention. Although he trailed both major party candidates in the polls, several analysts saw him as the candidate with momentum in the race. Taylor’s decision to quit came the same day that more than 70 former Republican lawmakers endorsed Orman.

“He’s created a buzz for himself, and that’s pretty impressive for an independent candidate,” said Michael Smith, a professor of political science at Emporia State University.

Orman would lead Roberts 43 percent to 33 percent in a head-to-head race, according to an August poll from Public Policy Polling.

Another poll from SurveyUSA showed Orman was attracting voters from across the political spectrum.

“Roberts has the fight of his life on his hands. And if you were going to cast a vote right now, you’d be talking about Kansas sending, I believe, our first independent to Congress. This is huge,” said Chapman Rackaway, a professor of political science at Fort Hays State University. He predicted Taylor’s supporters would flock to Orman.

The Hays Daily News published an editorial last week calling for Taylor to drop out of the race in order to make room for Orman. And Jim Sherow, the Democratic House candidate in the 1st District, endorsed Orman over Taylor.

Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/election/article1447177.html#storylink=cpy

Maybe if Roberts actually lived in Kansas...

[adieu]

7. Taylor should take advantage of this

Since he's not interested in running, he can still "run" by leveraging his name. He can now go on the offensive with no worries of pushback. He can now go on the air and make allegations that Pat Roberts is secretly married to a gay muslim transsexual midget communist. He can claim Roberts stole millions of dollars from Kansas and has them stashed in his actual home (truth) in DC.

He can say anything and everything now. You want to play dirty, let's get real dirty. Taylor is out, but still has a voice. He can be a real PITA to Pat Roberts.

[Fred Sanders]

12. Yes, I thought of that also, a "do not vote for me, vote for the independent" may be a good thing.

[yeoman6987]

30. Sounds. Good

But zero dollars probably won't make that a reality.

[former9thward]

32. You can't commit slander just because you are candidate for something.

Unless you want to be in court for the rest of your life.

[adieu]

35. Well, don't be too simplistic

finesse it a bit. There are ways to say things without saying things. Just sayin', you know what I mean? Wink wink nudge nudge.

[elleng]

8. O SH*T!

[kimbutgar]

10. No shit sherlock did you expect anything less from the right wing hyper partisan racist Kobach?

[Fred Sanders]

13. Not me. The corrupt gall of these people has gotten noticed in Kansas and how does this help change

that.

I guess they got little to lose, Republicans in Kansas are close to being universally detested, even by their own party.

[Fred Sanders]

11. I call BS. Guess we have to go to the Republican controlled courts.....the disrespect for voters

and the voting process is a criminal act of the highest order.

I cite The People v. Bullshit.

[WhoWoodaKnew]

14. before we get all hot and bothered can someone post what the law actually is?

[elleng]

17. This probably contains it.

Haven't studied it.

https://www.kssos.org/forms/elections/election_standards/ChapIV-Candidates.pdf

[madville]

23. Here it is, doesn't look good

Candidate Withdrawals
A candidate who has filed for any office may withdraw before the candidate filing deadline by submitting a notarized written statement of withdrawal. [KSA 25-306a] After the filing deadline and after the primary, a candidate for national, state, county or township office who does not wish to be a candidate must submit a notarized written statement declaring him/herself to be “incapable of fulfilling the duties of office” if elected. [KSA 25-306b(b)]

Seems pretty straightforward unfortunately, there has to be a notarized statement stating he is "incapable of fulfilling the duties if office". His statement said he was suspending his campaign with that crossed out and the word terminated inserted. Was it notarized would be the next question.

[meadowlark5]

33. On Rachel tonight

She ran through the steps he took and she said it was notarized.

[Uncle Joe]

15. I imagine that if Taylor wanted to, he could still openly endorse Independent Orman?

Thanks for the thread, brooklynite.

[DCBob]

16. Yeah.. that might actually benefit Orman more.

Make it crystal clear who Democrats should vote for.

[pstokely]

34. That might benefit Roberts more, there's not really much a Democratic base in Kansas

but there's lots of "moderate" Repukes in Johnson county who might vote for Orman who usually automatically vote Repuke, since therTV markets are small in KS, elections can be bought cheap and the Kochsuckers can keep their money in the more expensive states

[24601]

22. But that would violate DU rules and he would be banned from posting, n'est pas? When there is

a Democrat on the ballot, you can't support somebody else.

[Uncle Joe]

24. Whereas.

1. The only Democrat on the ticket tried to withdraw but wasn't allowed to.

2. Subject to said Democratic candidate Taylor endorsing the Independent candidate Orman to prevent radical Republican Roberts from being reelected.

3. To my knowledge, said Democrat doesn't post here.

I suspect the fallout would be minimal and Taylor could/would deal with the loss of posting privileges or he could possibly appeal it to Skinner et al, citing his actions as a self-sacrificial public service to prevent 6 more years of Roberts.

[Eagle_Eye]

18. Just like Katherine Harris ramming the Bush election through Florida

Partisan hack Republicans just love to cling to the law when it advances their ideology over governing in the best interests of the people.

[elleng]

20. Dems had better do better this time than it did then.

[blkmusclmachine]

21. +1. Typical Republican: "I'm for the law. But only if it benefits me."

[toby jo]

27. He's got 10 weeks to get the message across.

It could help shift things even further against them.

[former9thward]

31. Why doesn't Taylor just file a new letter with the correct language?