In a move that has to surprise many - especially the Tim Huelskamp campaign, Conservative Cecil O'Brate, who had prior said he would endorse Jim Sherow stepped it up today, placing ads out in numerous papers throughout western Kansas.
Click to expand the ad:
The ad reads in part:
"Prior to this election campaign, I endorsed the Fowler, Kansas native in his prior two terms. Unfortunately his tenure has been disappointing. Beacuse of his refuusal to work effectively with other members of Congress - within and outside our own party - the Kansas' Big First District has no representation on the House Agriculture Committtee for the first time in over a century. I havfe spoken numerous times with high ranking members of Congress in the Republican Party, and the one consistency they shared is the need to REMOVE Tim Huelskamp as a Representative. His tactics are ineffective and unacceptable.
I am asking for you for a change on November 4th. I am asking you for a one time vote across party lines to support the Democratic cadndiate Jim Sherow. Two more years of fundraising and seniority will only reinforce Huelskamps' destructive regime. It is my belief that if we turn the tide now, we can once again regain the seat in 2016 with a common sense conservative"
While this is not a normal endorsement for a Democrat - to promote Pat Roberts and Sam Brownback, it is a significant kick toward Tim Huelskamp. Huelskamp, who has been mired in wonky polls that show him favored by 20 to down by 7 in the big first, ran a campaign assuming that he would not have to run.
Huelskamp provided no TV, limited radio, and stayed at home frequently. In opposition, Jim Sherow managed to win the endorsement of every paper in the west that provided an endorsement: Salina, Manhattan, Hays, Hutchinson.
Cecil O'Brate, a member of the board of directors of Conestoga Energy, employs over 16,000 people in the Big First.
Will his swipe at Tim Huelskamp this late impact Republican voters?
It's hard to know - but it definitely is a punch that Huelskamp was not expecting.