Trump election-fraud official running for Kansas governor

LENEXA, Kan. — A Kansas official who has supported President Donald Trump’s claim that millions of people may have voted illegally in last year’s election launched a campaign for governor Thursday, sounding conservative themes that echo Trump’s appeals to disaffected voters.

Kris Kobach, the Republican secretary of state in Kansas, gained a national reputation for championing tough voter identification laws and helping to draft proposals in numerous states aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration.

Trump last month named him as vice chairman of a commission seeking to compile evidence of widespread voting fraud, an unsubstantiated claim the president has blamed for his popular vote loss to Hillary Clinton. Kobach called the situation a significant problem in Kansas, citing dozens of non-citizens on the state’s voter rolls and nine criminal cases he brought as the only chief state elections officer with the power to prosecute election fraud.

Kobach had once been considered a candidate to land a role in the Trump administration. He was photographed going into a meeting with Trump In November with a document outlining homeland security proposals, including possible changes in voting laws.

He jumped into the 2018 governor’s race only two days after Kansas legislators enacted a law rolling back past income tax cuts championed by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback over Brownback’s veto. Kobach excoriated the Legislature’s move, calling state government “bloated” and a “monster.” He called for term limits for all state officials and restrictions on officials lobbying after leaving office.

“Topeka faces a crisis of leadership,” Kobach said during the speech kicking off his campaign. “We’re going in the wrong direction.”