Gov. Laura Kelly Secures Another Huge Kansas GOP Endorsement

Today, Gov. Laura Kelly secured the endorsement of former Republican U.S. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum.

As the Topeka Capital-Journal reports, Kassebaum chose to endorse Gov. Kelly over Derek Schmidt, despite the fact that “Schmidt worked for Kassebaum in the U.S. Senate from 1991 to 1997 and she later served as one of the four co-chairs of his 2010 bid for attorney general.”

In her endorsement, Kassebaum said Gov. Kelly has “shown time and again she is willing to work with both sides of the aisle for solutions to real problems. She continues to rise above partisan politics to do what is right for Kansas — she has the leadership qualities needed to continue leading the state.”

The endorsement from Kassebaum adds to a large coalition of Republicans endorsing Gov. Kelly for reelection, including GOP governors Mike Hayden and Bill Graves. Like Kassebaum, Graves also chose to endorse Gov. Kelly over Schmidt even though Schmidt worked for him.

This comes as Derek Schmidt has increasingly tried to focus on nationally divisive issues to try to distract from his failed record of defending Sam Brownback’s harmful cuts to education in Kansas, with national GOP strategists reportedly critical of Schmidt’s campaign.

“Top Republicans continue to back Gov. Laura Kelly because she has a strong record of working with both parties to get results for Kansans,” said DGA Deputy Communications Director Sam Newton. “In contrast, Derek Schmidt is doing everything he can to run from his own record of backing Sam Brownback’s disastrous failures — and can’t even get the people he worked for years to endorse him.”