© 2024 KMUW
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
00000179-cdc6-d978-adfd-cfc6d7d40002Coverage of the issues, races and people shaping Kansas elections in 2016, including statewide coverage in partnership with KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, and High Plains Public Radio.

Kansas Governor, Cruz Chairman Knock Refusal To Back Trump

Evan Vucci
/
AP

The chairman of Ted Cruz's campaign in Kansas said Thursday that the Texas senator has "harmed himself immeasurably" by not endorsing Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee. GOP Gov. Sam Brownback also expressed disappointment.

Kansas state Rep. Mark Kahrs of Wichita said he was disappointed in Cruz because the senator had the opportunity in his convention speech to "provide unity to our party and strengthen the ticket." Kahrs said he admires Cruz as a true conservative.

In telephone interviews from the GOP convention in Cleveland, Kahrs and Brownback said Republicans must focus on preventing presumed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton from becoming president. Both cited potential appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court by the next president as a key issue.

Kahrs called Cruz's refusal to endorse Trump "a clear mistake" and said if the Republican nominee loses, "This is a speech that Sen. Cruz will never live down."

"I really think that what happened last night with Ted Cruz's speech will be looked back upon in 2020 in the same light that we looked back on (New Jersey Gov.) Chris Christie when he gave that public hug to Obama during the 2012 presidential election," Kahrs said. "It harmed Christie. It never went away."

Brownback said he wasn't sure how much Cruz damaged his future. He acknowledged Republicans had a contentious presidential contest in which candidates said "a lot of personal things." But he said Cruz "made a pledge" to support the eventual nominee.

"There was a point in time in the campaign where we were all pushing on Trump to declare he wouldn't start a third party if he didn't win and then he did win," Brownback said.

The governor endorsed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio before Kansas' presidential caucuses in March but since has said repeatedly he's backing Trump, though Brownback was not a convention delegate. Kahrs, an attorney, was a Cruz delegate and will start a four-year term on the Republican National Committee on Friday.

The Kansas GOP's rules bound 24 of the state's 40 delegates to vote for Cruz when Trump was formally nominated Tuesday. Nine delegates voted for Trump, six for Rubio, and one for Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

But prominent Kansas Republicans backed Trump going into the convention, and state GOP Chairman Kelly Arnold said in a texted statement Wednesday night that Cruz's refusal to endorse the nominee created "general disappointment" in the delegation. Several delegates expressed disappointment in messages to The Associated Press.

But the feeling wasn't universal. Dalton Glasscock, a Cruz delegate from Wichita who previously worried about the convention being a "coronation," texted after the Texas senator's speech, "Amazing. True leadership."

Later, Glasscock added: "I support it 100%. If someone feels they can vote for Trump, great. If they can't, vote for someone they can believe in. He left the door open to more."

Kahrs acknowledged that he's previously been candid about not being "a big fan" of Trump during the campaign but said Thursday that Trump sent strong, favorable signals to the GOP's conservative base by naming Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his running mate.

"We have a nominating process," Kahrs said. "We've produced a nominee, and that person is Donald Trump, and he's the only person who stands between Hillary Clinton becoming president."

The Associated Press is one of the largest and most trusted sources of independent newsgathering, supplying a steady stream of news to its members, international subscribers and commercial customers. AP is neither privately owned nor government-funded; instead, it's a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by its American newspaper and broadcast members.