U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran is launching a new state political action committee to help Republican efforts to hold onto their supermajorities in the Kansas House and Senate.
Moran revealed his intention to start the PAC at a fundraiser held Wednesday night at the Topeka Zoo to raise money for the Republican House campaign committee.
Six years ago, Moran chaired the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which raised $128 million during the 2014 election cycle that saw a net gain of nine new Republicans elected to the U.S. Senate.
“Moran is the past chairman of the NRSC, and he’s been at the forefront of helping GOP candidates up and down the ballot during his entire career,” a source said.
“This is an extension of his past involvement in helping state legislative races and engaging his donor network to support them.
“This is an important cycle for the GOP, and he’s doing all he can to lead the effort to unify the party behind its nominees and get them across the finish line.”
The announcement of the PAC immediately stirred speculation that Moran might be angling to run for governor in 2022, something that’s been talked about in political circles in recent months, although some believe it’s unlikely.
Another Republican source suggested that the PAC might be more focused on Moran’s reelection effort in 2022 by helping Republican candidates win this fall.
The Republicans are facing a jazzed up Democratic Party, whose candidates are enjoying good success at raising money.
Democrats need to just flip one seat to end the Republican supermajority in the House and three seats to break the supermajority in the Senate.
The House Democratic campaign committee, for instance, has about $212,000 in the bank, the most they’ve had since the 1990s.
House Democrats outraised Republicans in the first seven months of the year, bringing in about $77,000 compared to about $31,000 for the GOP.
Individual Democratic candidates are also well positioned financially going into the general election, especially in districts that are believed to be ripe for flipping.
Democratic challenger Angela Schweller, for instance, has about a $13,000 lead in cash on hand over state Rep. Charlotte Esau, and Democrat Jo Ella Hoye in District 17 had about $30,000 in the bank compared to Republican Kristine Sapp with nearly $2,100.
Democrat Mari-Lynn Poskin reported about $33,000 on hand, while her GOP rival in House District 20, Jane Dirks, had about $6,900 on hand as she battled to win a primary race.
Over in the Senate, Democratic state Rep. Jim Ward has about $124,000 on hand as he seeks to defeat Republican incumbent Mike Petersen.
And Shawnee City Councilwoman Lindsey Constance has about $100,000 in her campaign account as she seeks to defeat state Sen. Mike Thompson, who is coming off a successful primary win over state Rep. Tom Cox.
House Majority Leader Dan Hawkins said the Moran PAC would give the GOP a boost going into the general election.
“He’s really our elder statesman now,” Hawkins said. “Having that person at the top helping drive things is huge for us.”
When the Republicans controlled the governor’s office, they had someone to turn to help raise money and help get the party energized.
“It’s a big thing for us,” he said of Moran’s PAC.
The state GOP has sagged when it comes to fundraising. It raised about $40,000 this year compared to about $242,000 for the Democrats.
Democratic state Rep. Brett Parker, who has been working to elect Democrats to the House, said Moran’s entrance into state campaigns wasn’t worrisome.
“I think he’s seen that they need a lot of help and they’ve been struggling to raise money,” Parker said.
“When you have Republican candidates basically running on being anti-science,” Parker said, “Democrats are pretty positive about connecting with a majority of the electorate.”
Four years ago, then-Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins created a political action committee to raise money for state legislative candidates.
The Jenkins’ PAC raised about $40,000 in 2016 that went to a mix of conservative and moderate Republican legislative candidates across the state.
The PAC didn’t report raising any money in 2017 and 2018.
