Sen. Pat Roberts and independent Greg Orman remain in the race. Ruling a blow to Roberts in Kansas

The Kansas Supreme Court sided Thursday with Democrats attempting to remove their candidate from the ballot in Kansas’s razor-tight Senate race, a blow to incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts’ reelection prospects.

The withdrawal of the Democratic nominee in the race, Chad Taylor, clears a path for independent Greg Orman to challenge Roberts one-on-one. Polls show Orman leading in the contest in a head-to-head matchup.


Although Taylor announced earlier this month that he was ending his campaign, Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach had ruled that Taylor’s name must remain on the ballot because his withdrawal failed to meet the precise requirements of Kansas’ election law.

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But the court dismissed Kobach’s argument, agreeing that Taylor satisfied the law when he announced his decision to drop out.

The court refused to address Kobach’s additional claim that Kansas Democrats are required to name a new candidate to replace Taylor, and shortly after the ruling Kobach said he’d arrange to give the party another week to do so. His office had previously warned that ballots must go to the printer by Sept. 19, but a spokeswoman said Democrats have until Sept. 26 to name a new nominee.

“The law requires that the Democratic Party name a replacement candidate, and the Secretary of State has arranged for an extra week to do so,” a spokeswoman said.

The Kansas Democratic Party issued a statement slamming Kobach but did not respond to a POLITICO inquiry about whether it would name a new candidate.

Roberts immediately panned the ruling, slamming the court as aligned with Democrats.

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“Today, the Kansas Supreme Court deliberately, and for political purposes, disenfranchised over 65,000 voters,” Roberts campaign manager Corey Bliss said in a statement. “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.”

Orman’s camp brushed off the ruling and said he doesn’t care who’s on the ballot. Orman refuses to say which party he would ally with if he wins the Senate race, but Taylor’s withdrawal increases the odds that he’ll prevail. That could undermine Republican hopes for taking control of the Senate in November.

Attention will now turn to whether Democrats name a replacement by the Sept. 26 deadline.

“Democrats now have a clear legal obligation to name a candidate to fill the vacancy on the ballot. Greg Orman and his liberal friends like Barack Obama might not like it, but they have to abide by the law just like everyone else,” said Brad Dayspring, a spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.