Broadcast spending in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate has now surged past $10 million, new data show.
Medium Buying, a Columbus, Ohio, firm that tracks political ads, reports that television and radio spending in the U.S. Senate primary has now reached almost $10.7 million.
Leading the spending spree is plumber Bob Hamilton, who with millions of his own money has spent $2 million on 15 individual ads that are believed to be a record for a Republican Senate primary in Kansas, according to Medium Buying.
Congressman Roger Marshall has spent about $1.2 million in broadcasting.
Marshall’s primary rival, former Secretary of State Kris Kobach, has only spent about $200,000, not substantially more than former Johnson County Commissioner David Lindstrom, who has spent about $114,000.
Senate President Susan Wagle spent about $75,000 before leaving the race in May.
Marshall is getting significant help from the freshly formed Plains PAC, which has ties to Republican Senate leadership and is run by C.J. Grover, a former aide to Congressman Kevin Yoder.
Plains PAC has spent about $2.2 million, although that is expected to reach $3 million.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has pumped in another $296,000 to help Marshall in addition to the Keep Kansas Great super PAC, which has spent another $185,000, according to Medium Buying.
Keep Kansas Great’s donors include the Ameta Corp., a firm based in Leawood that state records show was created in 2001 to promote and develop real estate, manufacturing and health care. The company’s president is Daniel R. Tasset.
Retired Topeka businessman Mark Heitz also gave $100,000 to the PAC, as well as $15,000 from Cherokee Warrior, owned by southwest Kansas industrialist Cecil O’Brate.
Club for Growth had spent about $272,000 mounting a campaign against Marshall before ending its efforts, reportedly at the request of President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, Kobach is getting substantial help from the Sunflower State PAC, which is spending $3.6 million on an ad campaign that criticizes Marshall as being an inauthentic conservative while using a theme that shows Kobach as a staunch conservative.
The Sunflower State PAC has ties to Democrats, most significantly because its treasurer has been identified as a Lawrence attorney who has contributed to Democratic candidates running for office in Kansas.
Jim Jesse is listed as the Sunflower State PAC’s treasurer. State records show that he has contributed to former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Paul Davis, among others.
Jesse did not return phone calls last week seeking comment.
He did tell The Hill newspaper last week he didn’t know anything about the Sunflower State PAC before saying he had no comment and hung up on a reporter.
The PAC booked the ads through Old Towne Media, the Alexandria, Virginia-based media buying firm used by former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders.
On Tuesday morning, Plains PAC’s Grover called on Kobach to renounce the ads produced by Sunflower State.
“Democrats are meddling in the GOP primary to support perennial loser Kris Kobach because they know they can beat him again,” Grover said.
“It’s telling that Kobach is staying silent while hoping Kansas Republicans are fooled by these liberal ads. Any true conservative would have immediately denounced support from Chuck Schumer, and Kris should do so.”
Plains PAC released a new ad pointing to Democrats’ interest in Kobach winning the Republican nomination so he faces a well-financed Barbara Bollier in the general election.
The Forever Free PAC, largely bankrolled by PayPal found Peter Thiel, has spent about a half a million dollars so far helping Kobach.
Forever Free PAC’s contributors include venture capitalist Andy Miller of Nashville who along with his brother in 2016 agreed to pay $7.75 million to settle claims that a company in which they were minority owners knowingly billed federal healthcare programs for services that were not reimbursable.
Some political observers write off Kobach’s lack of television spending in the primary, pointing out that his conservative brand is already well established.
“For better or worse, Kris Kobach is a known commodity in Kansas,” said Kansas City political consultant Colin Hoffman, founder of Sandlot Strategic, which worked on Kobach’s gubernatorial campaign against Gov. Laura Kelly in 2018.
“That’s why the measly $200,000 spent on TV ads supporting his candidacy or the $2 million-plus spent on ads opposing his candidacy are having an extremely limited impact,” Hoffman said.
“Between Gov. (Jeff) Colyer and Gov. Kelly, $4 million or more has been spent defining Kris Kobach over the past two years.
“It’s tough for his Republican opponents to say something that hasn’t already been said with thousands of gross rating points across Kansas,” he said.
Most of the ad spending in the Senate race breaks down this way by market: $4.6 million in Kansas City, $3.3 million in Wichita/Hutchinson, $2 million in Topeka, and $327,000 in Joplin/Pittsburg.
Sunflower State (the anti-Marshall PAC) and Plains PAC (anti-Kobach) have dominated the airwaves in each of those markets.
In Kansas City, Sunflower State has spent $1.9 million compared to $1 million for Plains PAC.
In Wichita/Hutchinson, Sunflower State has laid out about $849,000 compared to $610,000 for Plains PAC.
In Topeka, Sunflower State has spent about $670,000 to about $411,000 for Plains PAC.
In Joplin/Pittsburg, Sunflower State has spent $144,000 compared to about $40,000 for Plains PAC.
