460,350 368,372 Start date November 4, 2014 | 53.1% 42.5% | |
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Winner Pat Roberts | ||
The 2014 United States Senate election in Kansas was held on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Kansas, concurrently with other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
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Incumbent Republican Senator Pat Roberts was re-elected to a fourth term against Independent Greg Orman and Libertarian nominee Randall Batson. The Democratic nominee, Chad Taylor, withdrew from the race.
Republican primary
Roberts gained negative press attention after criticism that he did not own a home in Kansas, with some comparing the situation to that of former Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, who lost a 2012 Senate primary after a similar residency controversy. Roberts owns a home in Alexandria, Virginia. The primary was held August 5, 2014.
Primary opponent Milton R. Wolf, a radiologist, was under investigation by a state medical ethics board for posting X-ray images of dead patients with macabre commentary to Facebook.
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Campaign
On September 3, Democratic nominee Chad Taylor withdrew from the race. On September 4, Kris Kobach, the Republican Kansas Secretary of State, announced that Taylor would remain on the ballot because state law demands he declare himself "incapable of fulfilling the duties of office if elected" in order to be removed, which he did not do. Taylor challenged the decision, and on September 18 the Kansas Supreme Court decided that his name would be taken off the ballot.
On the same day, Kobach demanded the chairman of the Democratic Party name a replacement in eight days, saying he will consider litigation to force the party if they refuse.
A registered Democrat with family ties to Republican Governor Sam Brownback's campaign also filed a petition with the Kansas Supreme Court on September 18 to force the Democratic Party to name a new candidate. Kobach ordered ballots to be mailed to overseas voters on September 20 without a Democratic candidate, but included a disclaimer that another ballot will be sent if the Democratic Party names a replacement candidate.
The state district court in Shawnee County threw out the petition, meaning no replacement for Taylor needed to be named.
In the United States Senate election in Kansas, 2002, Roberts also had no Democratic opponent.
Roberts defeated Orman in the general election, winning reelection to a 4th term in office.
If Orman had been elected, the U.S. Senate would have had three independent Senators for the first time in the chamber’s history. This—and the question of whom Orman would choose to caucus with if elected—were very large questions in the electoral contest, and because the Kansas race was showing tight in the polls, a subject of considerable national political discourse as well.