by Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector
Topeka — Republican attorney general candidate Kellie Warren was endorsed Tuesday by the political action committee of the Kansas Chamber organization.
The Kansas Chamber PAC opted for the state senator from Leawood rather than GOP candidates Kris Kobach, the former secretary of state, and Tony Mattivi, a former federal prosecutor. The Democrat in the 2022 campaign is attorney Chris Mann.
Jennifer Baysinger, a Kansas Chamber staff member who oversees the political action committee, said the board of directors of the PAC met with the three GOP candidates. The board voted unanimously to endorse Warren in the August primary.
She said Warren had been an advocate for the business community during one term in the Kansas House and since transitioning to the Senate in 2021.
The Kansas Chamber PAC hadn’t previously made endorsements in primaries for statewide offices. Attorney General Derek Schmidt, a Republican, is seeking the party’s nomination for governor.
“The PAC’s historic endorsement speaks to the urgency and importance that the Republican nominee not only be the candidate who best supports businesses but also who has a path to victory in the November general election,” Baysinger said.
She said there was concern in the “Kansas business community” that Kobach and Mattivi wouldn’t effectively represent interests of businesses in court.
Warren, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, said she was humbled by the endorsement from the political arm of the Kansas Chamber. She said it was understood the Kansas attorney general must push back against federal COVID-19 mandates and other government overreach into the business community by the administration of President Joe Biden.
“The importance of this role was made crystal clear as state attorneys general became the first line of defense against President Biden’s illegal vaccine mandates. We simply cannot trust such an important role to an individual who has repeatedly failed conservatives so visibly in past court cases,” Warren said.
In the past, Kobach lost campaigns for governor and U.S. Senate. Mattivi doesn’t have prior experience in elective politics.
Mattivi, who worked about 20 years for the U.S. Department of Justice, said he had never and would not be “beholden to any special interest.”
“My campaign continues to receive broad support from voters and business people across the state and especially from law enforcement and concerned citizens,” Mattivi said. “We will continue to focus on the real problems facing Kansans and as Kansas attorney general I will keep Kansas safe and strong.”
Kobach, who served as secretary of state for two terms, said he appreciated the Kansas Chamber’s endorsement of his 2018 campaign for governor and anticipated working with the business organization as attorney general.
“For more than a decade I battled the ACLU in federal courts across the country showing I will be an effective defender of Kansas businesses in court,” Kobach said.
He said he had two pending lawsuits against the administration of President Joe Biden regarding executive actions on COVID-19 vaccination mandates and the deportation of illegal immigrants.
“We will win those suits in court, and I will continue to fight the unconstitutional actions of the Biden administration as the next Kansas attorney general,” Kobach said.
Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/briefs/kansas-chamber-pac-wades-into-attorney-general-primary-for-first-time/