With the primary election less than three months away, Republican gubernatorial hopeful Kris Kobach has parted ways with a top political strategist and enlisted a state lawmaker to steer his campaign.
Kobach, the secretary of state, said Tuesday that he hired Republican state Rep. J.R. Claeys of Salina to run his campaign leading up to the Aug. 7 primary.
He also hired as his new spokeswoman Danedri Herbert, an editor from the online publication The Sentinel. Herbert, a former blogger, will be the third person to serve in that role this year.
“We’re just gearing up for the final sprint of the primary,” Kobach said in an interview from western Kansas, where he was on a campaign swing.
Kobach acknowledged he had split with Jared Suhn, a principal at The Singularis Group, a highly successful political consulting firm in Overland Park.
Kobach said he decided to hire Claeys because he needed someone who would serve more in a full-time role as campaign manager.
There had been some belief in Republican political circles that a rift had developed between Kobach and Suhn over the direction of the campaign.
“We just have different approaches to campaigns, but we also share the same conservative values,” Kobach said. “His role at Singularis involved a lot of the strategic consulting and less of the nuts and bolts of campaign management. We needed a nuts-and-bolts manager, and that’s what J.R. is doing.”
Although Suhn will not be working in the part-time campaign manager role, Kobach said Singularis will still be employed to develop the campaign’s print and digital advertising.
Suhn could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Washburn University political scientist Bob Beatty cautioned about reading too much into the personnel changes. He said the staffing moves only reaffirm that Kobach is his own campaign manager.
“Kobach is the head of his own campaign,” Beatty said. “There are some candidates who just follow the schedule, follow what the note cards say and there are others like Trump and Kobach…who run the show.
“I think Kobach’s personality is more of running the show and I think that’s affiliated with more turnover.”
Beatty added that in some cases turnover might be emblematic of a collapsing campaign, but maybe not so much in this case.
“Kobach is going to do what he thinks is best and as long as he’s consistent with that he’s probably OK.”
Some Republican outsiders viewed the Claeys hire skeptically, saying he’s more familiar with running statehouse races than a statewide campaign, although he did run for secretary of state against Kobach in 2010. Claeys finished third in that race.
“J.R. has a great skill set,” Kobach said. “He knows the political landscape really well as a state legislator. He’s very savvy in terms of political judgment. He’s a conservative who shares my views. It was a natural fit.”
Herbert replaces Moriah Day, who had been speaking on Kobach’s behalf since Samantha Poetter moved from serving as communications director to coordinating volunteers earlier this year. Poetter also left the employment of the secretary of state’s office in April.
Herbert, Kobach said, brings a talent for writing to the campaign. “We’re really excited to have her on board.”
Day is transitioning out of the campaign, Kobach said. Day recently married and can’t spend as much time on the road away from his family. His role as a spokesman was only intended to last until a new communications director was hired, Kobach said.
In an interview early Tuesday evening, Poetter said Herbert was brought in because she had more experience. Poetter said her own work with volunteers plays to her strengths.
“It’s a strong team, and we’re all 100 percent loyal and behind Kris,” she said.
