“If there’s a controversial new anti-immigration law that’s captured national attention, chances are that it has Kris Kobach’s imprimatur. A telegenic law professor with flawless academic credentials—Harvard undergrad, Yale Law School—Kobach helped Arizona lawmakers craft the infamous immigration law that passed in the spring of 2010. He’s coached legislators across the country in their efforts to pass dozens of similar measures, ranging from Alabama, Georgia, and Missouri to the small town of Fremont, Nebraska, pop. 26,000. His record has helped propel him into elected office, becoming Kansas’ secretary of state just six months after the passage of Arizona’s SB 1070.” Thus began Suzy Khimm’s March/April 2012 Mother Jones story Kris Kobach, Nativist Son. He was less than two years into his first of two terms as Kansas’ Secretary of State.
So that was nine years ago.
Fast forward to April 29, 2021, and Stephen Koranda, reporting for NPR and KCUR: Kris Kobach, Former Trump Adviser, Announces Run For Kansas Attorney General. My favorite part of the article is the photograph of Kobach aside his wife Heather at his announcement for Attorney General. Is it me, or is there a thought bubble over her head saying “help me?” The article noted that “Kobach had filed documents late Wednesday night to appoint a treasurer for his campaign. That's the initial step for raising money.” That is an initial step that should be answered with the creation of a “nominee fund” or a “draft fund,” neither of which have I created. I have urged others to do so, however, and should some sort of such a fund come to be, or if a decent Democrat files, I will write again.
April 29 also saw an article by Tim Carpenter in the Kansas Reflector, Kobach campaign for attorney general triggers rebuke from Kansas Chamber. The article reported his announcement and an immediate and unambiguous rebuke by the Kansas Chamber of Commerce:
Alan Cobb, president and chief executive officer of the Kansas Chamber, said election of Kobach as the state’s top law enforcement officer would put “too much at risk.”
“The next attorney general of Kansas needs to be someone who is trusted, competent and focused on Kansas,” Cobb said. “Our state needs a chief legal advocate dedicated to protecting our rule of law and ensuring a stable legal climate. The Kansas business community has great concerns that, as attorney general, whether Kris Kobach can adequately and effectively represent Kansas businesses and individuals successfully in court.”
The Reflector article duly noted that “for his legal work representing the State of Kansas during a federal trial, Kobach was sanctioned in 2018 by a judge for his incomplete knowledge of court procedure. He was instructed to attend six hours of continuing education classes to help him with procedural rules.”
The article mentioned that “in 2016, he described members of the ACLU and the League of Women Voters as communists.”
Both articles recited his reign of voter suppression horror and his cruelly grinding immigrants (particularly Hispanic immigrants) under his heels. Both reported his pro-life and pro-cop agendas. Both described the “LOSER” tag he somehow picked up somewhere along the way of losing races for Governor and United States Senator. In Kansas.
Kobach is a nightmare for the State of Kansas, for the United States, and for the entire world.