GOP lacks big names in state’s 2nd District

The field of Republicans running in Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District is large, but some party leaders worry, not strong enough to keep the seat from falling into Democratic hands for the first time since 2006.

Seven Republicans are competing for the opportunity to face the lone Democrat in the race, Paul Davis, in the November general election. None has the name recognition of Davis, a former minority leader in the Kansas House who in 2014 nearly unseated former Gov. Sam Brown-back.

Likewise, none can match Davis’ more than $1 million in campaign contributions. In fact, several Republican contenders — Kansas senators Steve Fitzgerald and Caryn Tyson, and political newcomer Steve Watkins — have made personal loans of $150,000 or more to their campaigns to push their fundraising totals into respectable territory.

Republican Party leaders’ unease about the 2nd District race turned to alarm recently when trackers at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics and Real Clear Politics moved the race from a “likely (Republican) win” into the “toss up” column on their prediction boards.

“They just felt like none of the (other) candidates could win.”

That, said former Kansas House Speaker Doug Mays, triggered calls from state and national party leaders urging him to get into the race.

“They just felt like none of the (other) candidates could win,” Mays said. “And if people, whether it’s justified or not, believe you can’t win, they don’t contribute to your campaign.”

So Mays, who has been out of elective politics since 2006, jumped in at virtually the last minute, announcing his candidacy just weeks before the June 1 filing deadline.

Even with the late addition of Mays, there is “no obvious front runner” in the GOP field, said University of Kansas political scientist Patrick Miller, largely because potential headliners such as Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner decided to sit out the race.

From a strictly political standpoint, Miller said, that makes sense given that Democrats running in demographically similar districts across the country have outperformed expectations in recent special elections.

“If you’re a strategic candidate who doesn’t want to be branded a loser, you might sit out a tougher year like 2018 and run instead in one or two cycles if the political environment is more favorable,” Miller said.