Kansas’ Kobach steps aside from his election-supervising duties

TOPEKA, Kan.—At a parade this summer, candidate for governor Kris Kobach rode a jeep with a replica machine gun mounted on it. When some people complained the stunt scared children, Kobach, Kansas’ secretary of state, mockingly called the reaction a “snowflake meltdown.”

And he kept on riding the vehicle in other parades, posting photos on social media regularly.

Secretaries of state from middle America aren’t generally household names. Kobach is the exception.

The 52-year-old Republican has a take-no-prisoners style of conservatism that delights hard-right members of the GOP but makes him a prime target of Democrats and centrists.

Now Kobach, the state’s top election official, is locked in a too-close-to-call race for the GOP nomination. With late mailin ballots added to the count Friday— but nearly 9,000 more ballots yet to be reviewed—he clung to a lead of just 110 votes out of more than 313,000 cast in Tuesday’s primary against Gov. Jeff Colyer.

At the same time, Kobach announced Friday that he is temporarily stepping aside from his election-supervising duties after Colyer and others accused him of trying to influence the vote-counting by advising county officials on how to handle thousands of late ballots.

Despite holding what is usually a low-profile state post, Kobach has gained a national following, thanks to his tough stand on immigration and his push for stricter voter ID laws. Polling shows he has strong name recognition—and high negatives.