FILE PHOTO: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks following a meeting of the UN Security Council at UN headquarters in New York, U.S., August 20, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Kansas on Friday to give a speech on human rights and carefully avoided saying if he might run for a U.S. Senate seat from the Midwestern state.

There has been wide speculation that Pompeo might seek a Senate seat both to help Republicans keep control of the chamber and to serve as a possible springboard for a White House run.

Pompeo did not address the matter in his speech at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, but drew laughter as he wrapped it up by saying, “I look forward to taking questions on almost any topic.”

He did not get asked about a Senate race by the audience but did in interviews with local media.

“I’m serving America and working on President Trump’s team to deliver America’s foreign policy. That’s what I’m focused on,” he told Steve McIntosh of Wichita KNSS according to a State Department transcript.

“I’m flattered when people say Mike will be a good United States senator representing Kansas,” he added, saying he and his wife Susan “miss our church there in Wichita and all our family and friends.”

“But I’m doing something that I consider an incredible privilege, an opportunity of a lifetime to lead the State Department, and I’m focused on doing that each and every day.”

Born and raised in Orange County, California, Pompeo moved to Kansas in 1996, established an aerospace company, and served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2011 to 2017, when he became director of the Central Intelligence Agency.