Kansas GOP scrubs final Senate primary debate after three candidates boycott over format
The Kansas Republican Party has canceled its final debate before the August Senate primary after three of the candidates threatened to boycott over format changes they allege are designed to benefit Rep. Roger Marshall.
“Candidates Bob Hamilton, Kris Kobach, and David Lindstrom have refused to participate in a debate format that was agreed upon in January through a memorandum of understanding,” the party said in an email Thursday announcing the cancellation of the July 15 event in Atchison.
The three candidates warned earlier this week they would boycott the debate unless the party used the same format as its previous three forums, in which opponents shared the stage and were able to respond to each other’s answers.
The party announced this week that for the final meeting it planned to use an interview format in which candidates would appear on stage one at a time to take questions.
Party officials said this format is allowed under the memorandum of understanding that candidates signed, which states that an event in which candidates “are asked to each respond to questions is considered a debate.” However, Marshall’s opponents say the move is meant to protect the western Kansas congressman from attacks by his rivals.
Kobach, the former Kansas secretary of state and party’s 2018 nominee for governor, repeatedly poked at Marshall during last week’s debate in Wichita. He slammed Marshall, an OB-GYN, for missing votes on coronavirus-related legislation because he was volunteering in medical clinics grappling with the pandemic.
“If you want to be a doctor, be a doctor. Go for it. But the people in the 1st District hired you to show up and vote,” Kobach said, contending that Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids had done more for Kansas Republican by voting against a $3 trillion bill than Marshall.
Marshall called Kobach’s jab “just about as low as you can get for a failed candidate to attack me for helping take care of Kansas.”
Kobach’s campaign manager Robert Savino said in a statement that the party’s decision to cancel the July 15 event frees the campaign from the memorandum of understanding, which restricted candidates from participating in debates other than the party-hosted debates in each of state’s four congressional districts.
“The entire debate agreement is null and void. The Kobach campaign will now participate in any forums or debates we choose, because the Chairman of the Kansas GOP changed the agreed upon debate format in order to benefit one candidate, Roger Marshall,” Savino said. “Kansans deserve a Senator who will honor the spirit of a signed agreement, and Republicans deserve leadership that refuses to place its finger on the scale in primary races.”
Marshall’s campaign issued a statement Thursday ripping the other candidates for backing out. It called out Kobach, a former state GOP chair, and Hamilton, who is largely self-funding his campaign.
“It is no surprise that Kris Kobach, who has damaged the Kansas Republican Party for decades, would behave so childishly when he doesn’t get what he wants. The state GOP still gets calls from the IRS due to his mismanagement as Chair years ago ago,” said Eric Pahls, Marshall’s spokesman.
“It’s not surprising that Bob Hamilton, Kansans’ own Mike Bloomberg, wouldn’t have the presence of mind not to play right into his hand.”
Casey Burns, Hamilton’s political director, said that the Miami County businessman would be willing to participate in a television debate with the other candidates.
“We are ready to debate under the terms of the previous Kansas Republican Party debates,” Burns said. “What the party proposed for the Atchison debate was not a debate. It was an interview.”
Lindstrom’s campaign manager Dakotah Parshall said in a statement the campaign is “disappointed in the leadership of the state party changing the format to benefit one candidate and canceling the debate when asked to match the previous debate formats.
Kansas holds its Senate primary on August 4.
This story was originally published July 2, 2020 at 12:38 PM.
