Gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach came to Emporia on Wednesday afternoon to talk with KVOE News about his campaign.
Kobach, a Republican and the current Secretary of State, has championed a much stricter set of voter registration laws than the federal government has deemed necessary, and he’s still pushing to keep those in place even though the state laws were recently struck down in federal court.
Kobach maintains the nearly 130 non-citizens who have been caught illegally voting is “the tip of the iceberg,” although Judge Julie Robinson called the number “more of a trickle” in a trial this year pitting Kobach against the American Civil Liberties Union and the League of Women Voters. The ACLU sued, saying the state’s requirement that people produce documents like birth certificates or passports to register at motor vehicle offices is illegal because it violates federal laws requiring minimal information to register. Kobach says he will appeal to the US Supreme Court if the Circuit Court of Appeals decision is not in his favor.
A crackdown on undocumented individuals or families is also a vocal part of the Kobach plan if elected.
Kobach has made a point of not granting in-state tuition to undocumented students, saying taxpayers pick up two-thirds of the education costs and universities have to pick up related costs like faculty or other resources to handle the student load.
KVOE’s interview also ranged into other topics, like economic development, government efficiency, education funding and whether to expand KanCare. On that last topic, Kobach says he’d like to see the number of insurance companies expand from its current three providers. He disagrees with critics who say Kansas has missed an opportunity to collect millions of federal dollars the past several years by not expanding KanCare, saying that is a trap that actually leads to higher insurance costs. And he’d rather see a new approach to KanCare as opposed to an expansion.
On education funding, Kobach says lawmakers, not the Supreme Court, should have final oversight of how education dollars are spent.
Separately, Kobach plans to gain a lot of government efficiency through attrition, especially through retirements, and he does not anticipate any reduction in the level of services provided to state residents with that approach.
Kobach is part of a crowded field hoping to carry the Republican flag into the general election this fall. That field includes current Gov. Jeff Colyer, former Emporia Senator Jim Barnett, current Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer, along with Tyler Ruzich, Joseph Tutera and Patrick Kucera. The primary election is Aug. 7.
