Catch scratch fever is coming to Lenexa.
Yes, Secretary of State Kris Kobach is reaching back into his political arsenal to bring 1970s rocker and gun-rights advocate Ted Nugent to town Saturday, June 23 to raise money for his GOP gubernatorial primary campaign.
Nugent – who worked with Kobach several years ago to legalize the hunting of feral pigs from helicopters in Texas – will be appearing at the Lenexa Community Center for a fundraiser to support Kobach.
VIP seating, with an autographed photo of the “Motor City Madman,” will cost $500, according to an invitation emailed out Wednesday afternoon. Front-section seating will run $150 and $50 for general admission.
“Tickets are going fast so RSVP today,” the invitation states.
Kobach’s campaign was eager to bring Nugent – whose third studio album was titled “Cat Scratch Fever” – to town.
“We’re looking to forward to having another NRA board member come to Kansas in support of Kris Kobach for governor,” said campaign manager J.R. Claeys.
Kobach is in a contested GOP primary for governor against incumbent Jeff Colyer, Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer and former state Sen. Jim Barnett.
Last week, it was announced that Chiefs coach Andy Reid would help Colyer raise money at events in early June in Wichita and Mission Hills.
Nugent and Kobach have been aligned for several years. Four years ago, Nugent supported Kobach in his successful re-election for secretary of state.
At that time, Nugent went on Facebook to endorse Kobach, a post that included a picture of him with Kobach dressed in hunting gear. Nugent was holding a machine gun.
Nugent called Kobach in that Facebook post “an avid hunter and backstrap BloodBrother who’s a dear pig killin friend of mine.”
Earlier this year, Nugent posted on Facebook a piece Kobach wrote about guns for Breitbart following the Parkland, Fla. school shootings. Nugent called Kobach “a US Constitutionalist treasure! As KS secretary of state he has always been on the right side.”
In 2012, presidential candidate Mitt Romney distanced himself from Nugent’s criticism of President Obama, calling his administration “vile,” “evil” and “America hating.”
Other comments Nugent made about Obama got him questioned by the Secret Service. The case was closed. No action was taken.
Kobach has welcomed Nugent’s support, telling the Wichita Eagle in 2014 that “he’s a friend and a hunting colleague.”
Claeys didn’t shy away from the controversy that Nugent has engendered.
“We’re conservatives. We’re targets of the media. What’s new,” Claeys said.
