Washington Post examines the Kansas Senate race ... with a focus on the money
An anonymous Republican operative has shared serious misgivings about fundraising in the Kansas Senate race with The Washington Post. The comments appeared in a story Wednesday looking at the contest between Democrat Barbara Bollier and Republican Roger Marshall.
Bollier’s campaign announced last week that it had raised $13.5 million over the last three months — a record for a Kansas candidate. Marshall over the same period brought in roughly $2.9 million, according to a pair of filings with the Federal Election Commission.
The Republican operative — who asked for anonymity to speak candidly — labeled that money gap this way: “It’s not a fair fight right now.” The operative went on to say that Bollier had benefited from “the environment and the passion of the other side and the tremendous amount of money that’s flowed to it.”
The operative also noted that the national party put more resources into the state in 2014, when Republican Pat Roberts appeared to be in a close race with Independent Greg Orman. That’s not happening this year, the operative said, because of the focus on other more high-profile Senate races across the country.
Marshall remains the favorite in Kansas, according to political analysis sites. FiveThirtyEight’s “deluxe” model has Marshall winning in 73% of simulations, while non-partisan Cook Political Report labels the contest as “lean Republican.”
Kansas has not elected a Democratic senator since 1932.
