In a decision handed down in the last 4 minutes, Chad Taylor has been removed from the ballot.
The decision, announced here.. http://www.kscourts.org/...
Provides the basis for the story about the removal of Chad Taylor.. but another story is developing behind this: Who, in fact, hired the firm that represented Kris Kobach, and was the bidding process for the firm in question in order?
What is important to note here is the nature of the ruling.
TOPEKA, Kansas — The Kansas Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Democrat candidate Chad Taylor’s name shall be removed from the ballot for the U.S. Senate race in November’s election.
The court ruled specifically that he was to be removed - not that his letter was to be accepted. This is a significant difference as the court went out of their way to make sure that the ruling would verify that Taylor would not appear and provide Kris Kobach no wiggle room in the change of printing of the ballots.
It's on in Kansas now.
What makes this ruling stand out now, though is who were the litigants. In a normal matter of form, the State (Kobach in this case) would be defended by the Attorney General - Derrick Schmidt. After repeated calls to Derrick Schmidt's office, I was unable to discover if the Schmidt office was consulted.. I will continue to follow up on that.
However, what is apparent is who did the arguments.. in fact, the lawyers who handled the arguments for the State were the same ones who bought Caleb Steagall's lawfirm before he became a state judge.
I will continue this story tomorrow as more develops on how tax dollars were spent in the case of defending the indefensible.
3:02 PM PT: Kris Kobach has moved the mail date of ballots back to Sept. 27, and has said the Democrats must name a replacement candidate.. which may be pushing the move. Unfortunately, per the bylaws, we've missed that window.. it takes 14 days to hold a state meeting..
3:12 PM PT: The court ruling specifically provides for the Democratic party to be absolved of naming a replacement.
3:16 PM PT:
10
With this determination, we need not consider the parties numerous other
arguments Nor do we need to act on Kobach's allegation that a ruling for Taylor would require the Kansas Democratic Party State Committee to name his replacement nominee per K.S.A. 25-3905
.
The Kansas Democratic Party is not a party to this original action, and this court does not issue advisory opinions. Gannon v. State, 298 Kan.
at 1119
3:27 PM PT: For those wondering, Kobach is trying to move the date of when he sends the military ballots. One problem: federal races are locked in thanks to the Move Act of 2009. http://www.justice.gov/...
3:35 PM PT: applaud the Kansas Supreme Court decision to follow the law and stop Kris Kobach from undermining Kansas democracy. Kris Kobach has proven he cannot be trusted to fairly enforce the law. So long as Kris Kobach is Kansas Secretary of State, democracy is threatened.
Basic fairness is a bedrock Kansas value - all Kansans want is a fair shot. Kris Kobach does not believe in fair play and will continue to break the rules to push his extreme agenda. Just like Phill Kline, Kris Kobach continues to put his partisan political agenda before the law, weakening people's faith in our democracy.
- See more at: http://www.kansasdems.org/...
Important note: Word is that Kris Kobach has threatened to sue the Democratic Party if they do not name a replacement.
3:36 PM PT: Pat Roberts officially responds:
http://www.robertsforsenate.com/...
The statement continued, “in a bow to Senators Claire McCaskill and Harry Reid, liberal activist Supreme Court justices have decided that if you voted in the Democrat Primary on August 5th, your vote does not matter, your voice does not matter, and you have no say in who should be on the ballot on Election Day. This is not only a travesty to Kansas voters, but it’s a travesty to the judicial system and our electoral process.”
3:53 PM PT: Confirmed from more than one that Kobach has told others he would consider suing the state party if no replacement is named. Fine. Let's hold a meeting. We'll name Milton Wolf. See how you like that.
4:40 PM PT: Kansas GOP Issues a statement:
"If Taylor worked half a hard as a candidate as he did to get off the ballot, he might have had a chance"
5:57 PM PT: In the last two hours I've done at least seven interviews. I keep referencing the 2009 MOVE Act in regards to federal ballots. It's starting to get out there, as more media sources are picking up on the potential conflict.
7:03 PM PT: Other individuals who are on the ballot are grousing that the delay in the military ballot shipping may leave them a damaged party in this debate. Could someone come up and launch a suit or a public relations fight here?