Kudos to Talking Points Memo for highlighting this:
Kansas Secretary of State and GOP gubernatorial nominee Kris Kobach is desperately trying to publicly prevent the release of parts of a deposition tape — played at a trial over one of his voter restrictions — before Election Day.
Kobach is specifically concerned that the video will be used in “last-minute political commercials targeting the Defendant personally,” Kobach said in a court filing Wednesday evening.
“Indeed, the only reason that Plaintiffs are requesting the release of the video is to allow it to be used by partisan organizations and political candidates opposing Secretary Kobach’s gubernatorial campaign,” Kobach said in the filing, which asked the judge — if she ruled in favor of releasing the video — to pause that decision so he could appeal it to a higher court.
The video excerpts were played at the trial last March, where the ACLU and others were challenging his proof-of-citizenship voter registration requirement. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson ultimately knocked down the requirement — a decision that’s currently on appeal.
In the video, Kobach discussed a meeting with then-President elect Donald Trump in 2016, where he brought a proposal paper with recommendations for legislation that would have incentivized other states to adopt voting restrictions like Kansas’. While the transcript from the deposition was made part of the judicial record, the video itself reveals Kobach’s body language during the testimony, during which he was exasperated, frustrated and annoyed with the questioning.
And kudos toThe Kansas City Star for the brutal, scathing piece about how much Kobach sucked at being Secretary of State:
The Hutchinson News recently reported that Kobach’s office had failed to produce certification paperwork for voting machines that will be used by hundreds of thousands of voters in November. Kansas law requires the secretary of state’s office to certify voting machines and to keep a copy of the certification on file.
When asked for copies of the records, though, Kobach’s office could only provide two certification notices from the past five years. Five Kansas counties purchased voting equipment within that five-year window, yet there is no record of certification letters for those machines.
Why? “Quite frankly, just shooting from the hip, I don’t know,” Kansas Director of Elections Bryan Caskey told the newspaper.
The secretary of state’s office did not respond to a request for comment from The Star.
The lack of paperwork isn’t a fatal problem. The certification notices may have been forgotten, or misfiled or never filed. The federal government also plays a role in voting machine approval.
But Kansas voters should be appalled that the secretary of state’s office is so sloppy with one of its only primary responsibilities — to oversee the state’s elections.
They shouldn’t be surprised, though. Earlier this year, a federal judge found Kobach in contempt of court for refusing to properly update an election guide or send postcards to some voters. Kansans will pay the cost of his inattention.
While the secretary of state is busy chasing lucrative immigration cases across the country — or leading a federal election inquiry that disintegrated after a couple of meetings — his office fails at basic tasks, such as keeping voting machine certification notices on file.
Here’s how desperate Kobach has been in this race. He’s trying to tie his opponent, Laura Kelly (D. KS) to Sam Brownback:
Republican Kris Kobach on Tuesday tried to distance himself from Sam Brownback – the unpopular former Kansas governor – and instead paint his Democratic opponent as the real Brownback.
Kobach’s decision to mark Sen. Laura Kelly, one of the most frequent critics of the Brownback administration, as Brownback’s true successor came at the end of an hour-long debate in Wichita sponsored by the Kansas Association of Broadcasters.
Kelly spent much of the debate saying Kobach, the secretary of state, would return Kansas to Brownback’s tax experiment and the years of budget pain that followed. She called Kobach’s comparison “absurd.”
“It seems like she wants to run against Sam Brownback and not run against me. What’s funny about that is on three of the biggest issues of this campaign, she shares the Brownback position and I oppose it,” Kobach said.
Government spending went “through the roof” under Brownback, Kobach said, adding that Kelly wants to continue to increase spending.
Second, Kobach said in 2015 Brownback signed a sales tax increase into law and that Kelly supported a proposal that year that would have raised sales tax rates even higher. Lawmakers and Brownback approved the increase to close a budget shortfall.
Third, Brownback had “no appetite” to curb illegal immigration and neither does Kelly, Kobach said.
“So the real question here is: Will the real Sam Brownback please stand up?” Kobach said, paraphrasing Eminem lyrics.
Potential spoiler candidate, Greg Orman (I. KS), also tried this desperate, pathetic attack against Kelly:
Independent candidate Greg Orman is stepping up his attacks on Democratic nominee Laura Kelly in the Kansas governor's race.
Orman compared Kelly, a veteran state senator, to unpopular former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback during a debate Tuesday in Wichita at a Kansas Association of Broadcasters convention.
Orman is trailing well behind Kelly and Republican nominee Kris Kobach, the Kansas secretary of state. Kelly and Kobach are in a dead heat, and many Democrats view Orman as a possible spoiler helping Kobach.
Orman, a Kansas City-area businessman, touted his private-sector experience. He said Kelly is like Brownback in that he also was a longtime legislator before becoming governor.
Brownback was a U.S. senator before being elected governor in 2010. He resigned in January to take an ambassador's post.
But Kelly has pointed out that Kobach is exactly like the extremely unpopular former Kansas Governor:
Republican gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach revealed Wednesday proposals to impose work requirements, drug testing and immigration requirements for participation by Kansans in Medicaid, food stamps and a cash assistance program.
His recommendations were swiftly denounced by Democratic, independent and Libertarian candidates for Kansas governor.
Kobach, in a tight race for governor against Democrat Laura Kelly three weeks before Election Day, unfurled the package one day before hosting Vice President Mike Pence in vote-rich Wichita. The administration of President Donald Trump has advocated limits on government programs that subsidize groceries and health insurance for low-income Americans.
Kobach said the objective of his reform agenda was to compel “able-bodied” adults without children to join the workforce in Kansas, which had an unemployment rate of 3.3 percent in August. Thousands of impoverished people taking handouts from government could benefit from stepping into available jobs, Kobach said.
“To address the very real labor shortages that we have in Kansas we absolutely must encourage people to get off welfare,” said Kobach, who serves as secretary of state. “There’s no excuse for an able-bodied adult to be collecting welfare on the back of hard-working Kansans.”
In response, Kelly said the proposal was another example of Kobach attempting to mimic “failed policies” embraced by former Gov. Sam Brownback. Prior to resigning to take a job in the Trump administration, Brownback signed into law restrictions on social programs under the umbrella of the Hope Act.
“The Brownback Hope(less) Act ruined families, increased instances of child abuse and maltreatment, and drove up the number of children in foster care to more than 7,500,” Kelly said. “Just look at the crisis it’s caused. The foster care system is so overburdened that it can’t protect the children of Kansas, resulting in deaths, missing kids, kids sleeping in offices. And, clearly Kris Kobach wants to make that crisis worse.”
The race is heating up and more moderate Republicans are urging voters to back Kelly over potential spoiler Orman:
A second former Republican governor of Kansas is spurning Kris Kobach’s run for the office in favor of Democrat Laura Kelly’s candidacy.
Former Kansas Gov. Mike Hayden, who served from 1987 to 1991, announced on Thursday that he is endorsing Kelly’s run for governor. He becomes the latest major GOP official along with former Gov. Bill Graves and former U.S. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum to support the state senator from Topeka.
Every living ex-governor of Kansas — except for Republican Sam Brownback — now supports Kelly over Kobach.
“After eight years of crisis, we cannot elect someone who wants to repeat the disasters of the past,” Hayden said in a statement. “Kris Kobach has promised to do just that — risking the future of our great state.”
Kelly is running against Kobach, the Republican secretary of state, and independent Greg Orman in the November election.
“This is a critical year for the state of Kansas,” Hayden said. “No one can sit on the sidelines in this election.”
Hayden said “after much thought and analyzing” he felt that Orman could not win the governor’s race.
“While he may have something to offer the state of Kansas, this is not the year. This year, we must come together to support Laura Kelly,” Hayden said. “I’ve been a registered Republican for over 50 years. I seldom vote for Democratic candidates, but in this race, I strongly support Laura Kelly.”
State Sen. Laura Kelly (D-KS) on Wednesday announced an additional 23 “current and former Republican leaders” who are backing her gubernatorial bid.
“Laura Kelly is a common sense, moderate leader who will bring people together – regardless of party – to fix the issues facing our state,” said former Senate Majority Leader Fred Kerr. “She led the bipartisan coalition to end the Brownback experiment and put Kansas on the road to recovery. While Kris Kobach wants to repeat the disastrous tax experiment of the last eight years, Laura wants to move our state forward. That’s an idea we can all unite around.”
The latest list of names also includes former Republican Speaker of the House Bob Miller and six other former GOP legislators.
The “Republicans for Kelly” group has previously announced support from former Gov Bill Graves plus former U.S. senators Nancy Kassebaum and Sheila Frahm.
In total, 31 former and current Republican legislators have joined the effort, which even includes Rochelle Chronister, the former Chair of the Kansas Republican Party.
“I’m honored to have the support of these dedicated public servants,” said Kelly. “I’ve always believed that we get things done by bringing people together. That’s been my approach in the state Senate and that will be my approach as governor.”
“Together, we will get our state back on track,” she predicted.
Let’s help Kelly ride the Blue Wave to victory. Click below to donate and get involved with Kelly and her fellow Kansas Democrats campaigns:
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