Kris Kobach on Monday announced his bid for Kansas’s open Senate seat, casting himself as a Trump-style Republican who can carry the president’s tough immigration message directly to the halls of Capitol Hill.

His announcement sent shock waves through Washington Republicans, who fretted he would lose a seat that’s been in GOP hands for 100 years. But Mr. Kobach said they’re reading Kansas politics wrong, and underselling President Trump.

“One thing Kansas voters know about me is I’m not afraid to go into a political fight and hold my ground,” he told The Washington Times. “That willingness to stand on principle has crated some enemies in the political establishment in Topeka. The establishment is sometimes similarly afraid of that kind of Republican in Washington.”

He is seeking the seat being vacated by Sen. Pat Roberts, who is retiring after serving for four terms.

He wouldn’t say whether he has Mr. Trump’s backing — “I have spoken with the president about my candidacy but I don’t want to go into detail” — but he said he plans to remain an informal adviser to the White House on immigration issues while campaigning, suggesting close ties will continue.

Mr. Trump has considered Mr. Kobach for posts at Homeland Security or as immigration czar, but Mr. Kobach ultimately remained outside the administration, save for a stint as vice chairman of Mr. Trump’s disbanded voter integrity commission.

He served as secretary of state in Kansas, and was the GOP’s nominee for governor last year, beating the sitting governor in a primary. But he lost the general election to Democrat Laura Kelly.

Immigrant-rights advocates view him as the architect of some of the most ground-breaking immigration debates in recent years, including Arizona’s law allowing police to check legal status of those they encountered during their duties. He also has been a major voice urging a stiffer approach to enforcement at the federal level.

The Southern Poverty Law Center labeled him the “lawyer for America’s nativist movement” and claimed he had ties with “racist” groups.

“I don’t care what The New York Times says about me and I don’t care what Southern Poverty [Law Center] or the ACLU says about me. If they say something bad, that means I’m doing my job well,” Mr. Kobach said.

Several other candidates are already in the GOP race, and others are eyeing it. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who served as a congressman from the state, has said he will not run.

Mr. Kobach told The Times that his pitch to voters will be the expertise he brings on immigration, where he said there’s been “a real void of leadership” in the Senate. He said some of that is GOP senators not wanting to make waves, while in other cases it’s Republicans not knowing enough about the issue to debate or write legislation.

“I’ve actually litigated these exact provisions of law in multiple cases so I know where the loopholes are,” he said. “I can draft the fixes myself.”

He said he’ll also fight for a seat on the Senate Judiciary Committee where he would vet judicial nominees, get a chance to focus on big constitutional issues, and argue against Democratic priorities such as guaranteed universal income or health care for illegal immigrants.

It’s not clear how active Republicans in Washington will be in opposing Mr. Kobach this time around, but the alarm bells sounded Monday.

“Just last year Kris Kobach ran and lost to a Democrat. Now, he wants to do the same and simultaneously put President Trump’s presidency and Senate majority at risk,” said Joanna Rodriguez, spokesperson for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. “We know Kansans won’t let that happen and we look forward to watching the Republican candidate they do choose win next fall.”

The Senate Leadership Fund, a major financial backer allied with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said it hasn’t “made any decisions about our engagement,” but did question Mr. Kobach’s loss last year.

Mr. Kobach said those fretting over the race don’t know Kansas politics.

He said the state’s governorship regularly flips between Democrats and Republicans, with the state’s education policy the battleground. He said in national elections, Kansas voters are as Republican as can be, having voting Republican in every presidential election since 1968.

The last Democrat to win either of the state’s Senate seats was in 1932, and the particular seat Mr. Kobach is seeking hasn’t been held by a Democrat since 1919.

Mr. Kobach said there’s a danger in Republicans in Washington trying to pick a winner.

“It’s really dangerous when you have a 30-something in Washington who reads articles about a state and thinks he knows how the game is won,” the candidate said.

Mr. Kobach’s bid kicked off with a hiccup. The initial filing made with the Federal Election Commission misspelled his first name as “Chris.” He told The Times it was quickly corrected and he hadn’t gone back to figure out where the breakdown was, but figured it was a transcription error.

He said it’s not the first time his name has been bungled.

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