How soon before presidential campaigning starts for the 2020 election?
A national newspaper would have us think it already has. A USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll found overwhelming support on the Democrat side for “none of the above” in 2020. Democrats and independents were asked their preference. Most agreed “someone entirely new” was their choice.
Democrat drawing the most support was Joe Biden, who will be 78 when votes are cast next time around. Bernie Sanders, on the verge then of being ancient, also had a favorable reading. Sen. Elizabeth Warren excited few respondents.
Such polls should be dismissed this early — nearly 47 months ahead of the only poll that counts — but it is interesting to note no one stands out among Democrats.
Fact is, many of both major parties will consider running during the next four years.
IN 22-PLUS months we’ll select a new governor in Kansas. Sam Brownback will have reached the limit of two terms — if he doesn’t finagle a Washington appointment under Trump — and with no incumbent, a good number of candidates from both parties are likely to seize the opportunity.
Paul Davis has been mum the past two years, after losing to Brownback, who drew half the votes; Davis had 46.1 percent.
Many pundits then thought Davis would prevail, because of Brownback’s staunch support of trickle-down economics and attendant income tax cuts that have the state budget in shambles and many statewide necessities on the brink of implosion.
Those seers underestimated the faithfulness of Republicans in Sedgwick County and the western two-thirds of the state. Crawford County went for Davis in southeast Kansas; all others, mostly by narrow margins, stayed with Brownback.
Three GOP stalwarts come to mind who likely aspire to fill the governor’s office on the second floor of the Capitol — Att. Gen. Derek Schmidt, Sec. of State Kris Kobach and Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer. Kobach has taken every opportunity to keep his name before voters, Schmidt has followed the same tact since he was old enough think about such things. Colyer, meanwhile, has been a silent partner for Brownback, as lieutenant governors usually are. Even so, he has the financial wherewithal — remember he loaned $500,000 to Brownback’s campaign two years ago — to mount a strong campaign.
Ron Ryckman, elected speaker of the House earlier this month, and Susan Wagle, president of the Senate, have GOP credentials that they might like to burnish with a statewide race.
If the Republican primary were to be handicapped, Schmidt might draw the best odds. He is a consummate campaigner, and has seemed to be biding his time in the AG’s office. He previous was president of the Senate. Also, he hasn’t demonstrated the died-in-the-wool ultra-conservative tendencies of Kobach and Colyer.
As for Democrats, Davis would seem a likely candidate, having come within slightly less than 4 percentage points of Brownback two years ago. The outcome may have had more to do with disagreement statewide with Brownback than Davis, though. Davis apparently has thrown himself into his Lawrence law practice the past two years; nothing has been heard from him on the political stage.
Davis’ running mate, Jill Docking, declined supporters’ pleas to run for the top job in 2014. This might be her time. She would have financial support, and has the Docking name to lean on. Docking, 61, is a former member of the Kansas Board of Regents and was a U.S. Senate nominee in 1996. She has other accomplishments to tout, and being a woman in an ever more inclusive political world might be helpful.
