(Updated to include more bio details about Democratic candidate)
Republican U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall hasn’t even decided whether to run for the U.S. Senate and the line of potential candidates who might replace him is already forming.
More than a half-dozen candidates — Democrats and Republicans — have been mentioned for a race in the 1st Congressional District that could be every bit as wide open as the one for the U.S. Senate now that Pat Roberts is retiring.
Former Lt. Gov. Tracey Mann, state Rep. Troy Waymaster, state Rep. Steven Johnson, former state lawmaker and National Rifle Association lobbyist Travis Couture-Lovelady and state Rep. Ken Rahjes indicated they’re looking at the race if Marshall runs for the Senate.
Other Republican names floated as possible candidates were Dodge City Community College Trustee and businessman Gary Harshberger and Mary Eisenhower, the granddaughter of Dwight Eisenhower.
“I would expect there to be 10 or 11 people in this race,” said Republican state Rep. J.R. Claeys from Salina. “You look at opportunities for the 1st District to come open, and it’s not frequent.”
Congressman Tim Huelskamp held the seat from 2011 to 2016 before losing to Marshall. Jerry Moran represented the district for 14 years before he was elected to the Senate in 2010 and Roberts for 16 years before that.
Democrats also have at least one candidate seriously looking at the race: Kali Barnett of Garden City. Christy Davis, executive director of the Symphony in the Flint Hills, also has been mentioned although it was unclear how much interest she had in running for Congress.
Barnett, 34, is a Garden City native and a graduate of Friends University. She earned a master’s degree in elementary music education from Wichita State University. She’s been an elementary school teacher for the last 12 years. Barnett also has a Twitter account set up with the name @kaliforkansas.
Mann, who served as lieutenant governor for former Gov. Jeff Colyer, is said to be very interested in running should Marshall run for the Senate. Mann was not available for comment.
But a Republican source close to the Salina real estate broker said he is taking a “serious” look at the race.
“He is a strong conservative with deep roots in agriculture and the ability to raise money,” the source said. “He will be well positioned to win the race.”
Mann ran statewide with Colyer last year against Secretary of State Kris Kobach and oilman Wink Hartman in the Republican primary for governor. Mann and Colyer came up several hundred votes short in the hotly contested primary.
Mann also ran for the 1st Congressional District seat in 2010, when he finished third in the Republican primary won by Huelskamp who went on to win the seat.
When Mann was named lieutenant governor in 2018, he won the support of Farm Bureau Chief Executive Officer Terry Holdren.
At that time, Holdren described Mann as a “good friend of Kansas agriculture and a great leader.”
Meanwhile, Waymaster, who is in his fourth term in the Kansas House, said he has a “very high interest” in running for the 1st District seat.
He already has visited Washington, where he met with various industry groups from agriculture, oil, health care and finance.
He declined to be specific about the groups he’s met. He already has been interviewing political consultants and identified one firm he would hire if he decides to run.
But he’s still waiting for Marshall to decide.
“I’ll wait it out until he makes a definitive determination about what he wants to do,” Waymaster said in an interview.
Waymaster, who now chairs the House Appropriations Committee, said he expects a wide open field in the 1st District if Marshall decides to run for the Senate.
“I think there have been some people who have been sitting on the outskirts waiting for the opportunity to arise,” he said.
Among those watching events unfold is Johnson, chairman of the House Tax Committee.
The Assaria Republican now in his fifth term in the Kansas House said he is watching events play out, especially if U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo still gets in the Senate race.
Johnson noted that a Pompeo Senate candidacy would have implications for the 1st District and ultimately determine what kind of race that might look like.
“It is something I am considering, and we’ll see how things continue to play out,” Johnson said. “It is something I always thought about.”
Also looking at the race is Couture-Lovelady, who was elected to two terms in the Kansas House and now lobbies for the National Rifle Association. He resigned from the House in 2015 before going to work with the NRA as state liaison. He is now state director.
Couture-Lovelady described his interest in running for the seat as “strong.” He added in an email that he’s “had some good conversations with some conservative groups.”
Republican Rahjes of Agra wouldn’t rule it out but said he was more focused on getting through the legislative session, which officially ends May 29.
“It’s something I’m sure looking at,” he said.
Rahjes acknowledged that fundraising could be difficult with a wide open 1st District Congressional race along with a competitive race for the U.S. Senate on the ballot next year.
“There’s only a finite amount of money to go around and there’s going to be so many people asking for money and with it being an open seat it’s going to be a big challenge,” he said. “If I would do this, it would not be self-funded by any means.”
The last time the seat was open in 2010, Huelskamp raised almost $1.2 million during that election cycle in 2009-10. Back in 2010, Mann raised about $786,000, including a $125,000 loan he made to his congressional campaign.
Physician Jim Barnett, who finished second in that race, brought in about $1.3 million, of which about $500,000 came from a loan.
