Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach is a “danger to democracy” whose ties to extremists make him a poor choice for governor, a new political action committee said Tuesday as it released a report detailing concerns about the Republican gubernatorial candidate.
The report, “Kris Kobach: The Candidate with Militia-Minded Friends,” was issued by the Kobach Is Wrong for Kansas PAC. It highlights numerous reasons why the group says Kobach should not be the state’s next leader.
Among the concerns cited: Kobach’s ties to extremist groups and a national gun-rights organization whose leader promoted the formation of armed citizen militias more than two decades ago.
"Kobach is a hard-core ideologue who has no business trying to be the political leader for all the people of Kansas,” said Leonard Zeskind, founder of the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights and one of the PAC’s organizers.
“He hangs around with racists and white supremacists. We’re not accusing him of being a white supremacist. But he’s bringing them around the campfire.”
Kobach did not respond to requests for comment. In the past, he has denied any connections to extremist or hate groups.
Larry Pratt, executive director emeritus of Gun Owners of America, said he was "delighted with what Kobach has been doing."
"To call him some sort of scary wannabe militia guy, I think is the kind of hyperbole that has been rather harmful to the left," said Pratt, who is named in the report. "And they don’t seem to get it. They don’t want to tone down their rhetoric. Just keep talking like that, and they’ll get Kobach elected for sure.”
The PAC — whose chair is Karen Wulfkuhle, former director of United
