Kris Kobach has just been elected chairman of the GOP. On the first round of balloting, the vote was 65--Kobach, 56--Huelskamp, and 55--Pompeo, so Pompeo was knocked off, and Kobach ended up winning over most of Pompeo's delegates on the second round with a landslide victory of 109-65 victory over Huelskamp.
Kobach's speech clinced the victory as he spoke about his aggressive strategy to regain lost seats and transform the GOP into a "lean, mean vote-getting machine." He blasted the state party's lack of help on his campaign and pledged much-needed reform lest "we get killed again in '08."
Kobach immediately asked Huelskamp and Pompeo to join his executive committee team, which they graciously did. That was one of the best moves (Pompeo is a proven fundraiser, so hopfully he'll be in charge of fundraising to help erase the state party's debt)--no hard feelings, no regrets, grudges, or tension, and the beginning of a unified party. Kline's election as DA was a minor setback, but the strides made on the JoCo committee, 3rd District committee, and now at the state level are all steps in the right direction. We have moderates and conservatives working together, and EVERY delegate from all corners of KS showed up today--there is drive and passion to regain control and come back strong in '08 (too bad it took the losses of 2006 to get here).
Kobach's thick "blueprint" for success includes a specific strategy that flows all the way from the state party and national RNC to the precinct level (incl. involving us precinct committee members).
Sen. Pat Roberts gave a fantastic "motivational" speech, and signed up volunteers and passed out bumper stickers for his re-election effort in '08 (already underway).
And it looks like the 2nd district race is shaping up to be a showdown in the primary between state treasurer Lynn Jenkins and former congressman Jim Ryun (who's announced he may run again). Jenkins is "seriously considering" (to quote her directly). Either of them have the ability to beat Boyda (Ryun just happened to lose in a bad year with a strong national tide and he was a little too complacent). Jenkins was re-elected statewide with 64% in 2006, so she would be extremely formidable.
I was mingling with Thornburgh's people who say he's considering a run for governor in 2010 and will make the decision soon.
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Hey Brandon. Dad is in. He feels that he's done a lot for Kansas and can do a lot more. He'll start with six figures in the bank (which will be critical in a tough election cycle with Brownback and Roberts sucking up a lot of the money) and one thing he said all weekend was, "I know I ran a lackluster campaign in 2006. That will change in 2008."
We're excited. Game on.
Drew
drewryun@yahoo.com
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
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