A top opponent of Republican Roger Marshall is ending its independent expenditure campaign against the congressman, giving him a significant boost in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate in Kansas.
Club for Growth’s decision to suspend its campaign against Marshall removes a major stumbling block to the congressman’s drive for the party nomination in an 11-person field that includes former Secretary of State Kris Kobach, businessman Bob Hamilton and former Johnson County Commissioner David Lindstrom.
“We continue to believe Rep. Marshall is not a strong pro-growth candidate,” said David McIntosh, Club for Growth president.
“But the Club for Growth PAC is not endorsing in this race and Club for Growth Action will be deploying resources in other critical House and Senate primaries.”
Marshall used the announcement to say that he’s the only Republican candidate who is positioned to beat Democratic state Sen. Barbara Bollier, who has been piling up cash in recent months and was sitting on about $2.4 million at the end of the second quarter.
“We’re glad to see the Club will be using their resources to protect the Senate majority,” campaign spokesman Eric Pahls said.
“Dr. Marshall is the only candidate who can win a general election and will do his part to keep the Senate red as well,” Pahls said.
Opposition from Club for Growth effectively gave an underfunded Kobach a weapon to count on against Marshall in the Republican primary.
Now, Kobach will have to largely count on his own fundraising, which is dwarfed by Marshall’s efforts, and a super political action committee funded by PayPal cofounder Peter Thiel. The Free Forever PAC has raised $355,000 through March 30.
The group’s decision could open the door for more Beltway money to flow to the Marshall. It also further hurts Kobach, who is losing the same kind of ally with deep pockets that carried him through the governor’s race in 2018.
GOP veteran David Kensinger said Kobach is gradually losing all of the elements that helped him win the primary for governor in 2018.
The president has been cool on Kobach.The former secretary of state doesn’t have a big money ally. And he doesn’t have another Republican candidate that might steal votes away from Marshall after Senate President Susan Wagle bowed out of the race.
Short of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer stepping up to help Kobach win the primary, Kensinger wondered who might be out there who could help the former secretary of state’s campaign financially.
Kobach ended the second quarter with about $317,000 on hand compared to Marshall who had about $1.9 million in the bank. Hamilton has dumped about $2 million into his own Senate campaign.
Club for Growth has been spending thousands of dollars on television campaigning against Marshall in recent weeks.
Earlier this year, Club for Growth poured about $33,000 into a campaign that highlighted vague complaints about Marshall’s demeanor as a physician.
The group spent money to run ads against Marshall in six newspapers, including The Kansas City Star, the Wichita Eagle and the Topeka Capital-Journal.
It also created a website asking patients for information about how they were treated by Marshall, who is an obstetrician.
Marshall has never been much of a favorite with Club for Growth.
Four years ago, the group dropped about $400,000 against Marshall in his congressional race against former Congressman Tim Huelskamp.
Two years ago, the organization gave Marshall a score of 47 out of 100 on its issues scorecard of “pro-growth” policies. His score improved to 87 out of 100 in 2019. He had a lifetime score of 69% as of 2019.
Last summer, Club for Growth released a poll showing Marshall losing to conservative lobbyist Matt Schlapp in the primary.
