Veteran Republican political operative Karl Hansen has left David Lindstrom’s campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Hansen said Thursday he stepped down as campaign manager in the first couple weeks of April.
He had gone to work for the former Johnson County commissioner last fall after another campaign shakeup.
“Dave has his vision for the campaign, and he’s got a lot of friends advising the campaign,” Hansen said.
“Together, they’re all on the same page to see it through,” Hansen said. “Given that, I thought it was maybe a better use of my resources to try to help other efforts (in) Kansas and the Republican Party.”
He added, “Dave’s a good guy, and I wish him all well with the effort. I’m going to put my talents to work in helping other Republicans.”
Hansen said he planned to return to the Singularis consulting firm where he had been a senior associate.
The 1997 University of Kanas law school graduate worked as a deputy campaign manager on Jerry Moran’s U.S. Senate campaign in 2010. He started at Singularis in 2012.
Hansen joined Lindstrom’s campaign last October, when the candidate cut ties with national consultants who helped guide Sen. Pat Roberts to a fourth term in 2014.
The campaign let go of Chris LaCivita and the Arlington, Virginia, consulting firm FP1 Strategies to hire Hansen and a team that was more locally based.
The campaign had hired FP1 to help with national fundraising, which it later said was not working out well.
Hansen’s departure came before Kansas Republican Party Chairman Mike Kuckelman asked Lindstrom to leave the race because he said the candidate couldn’t win and it would splinter the primary field.
Kuckelman pointed out to Lindstrom that the candidate has only $266,000 cash on hand, including $140,000 in loans to his campaign.
The chairman noted that in nine months, Lindstrom had received donations of $453,487 from supporters.
The Lindstrom campaign has indicated it would push forward believing it can win the race.
Dave Owen, the campaign chairman for Lindstrom, said it was disappointing to see Hansen leave.
“We think the world of Karl, but he had other things he wanted to do,” Owen said. “We hate to seem him go, but that’s just the way it goes in these political campaigns.”
Owen said he would continue to provide oversight and general direction of the campaign.
He said the campaign will bring in an experienced operative starting May 1 to replace Hansen.
