We don’t usually post about politics but since it’s about Secretary Pompeo, we’ll make an exception. Bloomberg is reporting that “Republican political donors have been told to hold off contributing to the 2020 U.S. Senate race in Kansas in the expectation that Secretary of State Michael Pompeo may decide to run, according to two people familiar with the matter.”
The Kansas run was reportedly ruled out in late winter, but by mid-summer, it appeared to have been re-opened.
Bloomberg adds that “While Pompeo has been equivocal about a possible run, his actions and speeches have only fueled speculation that he’s laying the groundwork for a Senate bid — and possibly a presidential run in 2024.”
U.S. Secretary of State MIchael R. Pompeo and Mrs. Susan Pompeo wave as they depart, Brasila, Brazil, January 2, 2019. Secretary Pompeo is on travel to Brasilia, Brazil, and Cartagena, Colombia, from December 31, 2018, to January 2, 2019. [State Department photo by Ron Pryzsucha/ Public Domain]
Ballotpedia says that voters in Kansas will elect one member to the U.S. Senate in the election on November 3, 2020. The election will fill the Class II Senate seat held by Pat Roberts (R). Roberts was first elected in 1996. Apparently, some folks in the GOP are “concerned that former Democratic Governor Kathleen Sebelius will run — and win — if Kobach is the GOP Senate nominee.” Yeah, that guy.
Senator Roberts was reelected in 2014 with 53.1% of the votes. Senator Jerry Moran, the junior senator from Kansas was re-elected in 2016 with 62.2% of the votes. Roberts has held his seat for 22 years, Moran for 8 years. So.
Basically Mr. Pompeo has two glaring choices: stay and face the possibility of firing by a tweet, by a volatile, thin-skinned president, or run for an almost sure seat with a 6-year term extending from January 3, 2021 until January 3, 2027. If elected to the U.S. Senate, could he run for president in 2024? Well, he could. We don’t know if he’d win but sixteen senators went on to become presidents. Four of them served just three years in the U.S. Senate before running for president: Obama, Barack (2005-2008); Nixon, Richard M. (1950-1953); Harrison, William Henry 1825-1828; and Jackson, Andrew 1797-1798; 1823-1825. Senate.gov says that G. Harding, John F. Kennedy, and Barack Obama moved directly from the U.S. Senate to the White House.
On the other hand, only six secretaries of state went on to become presidents (Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Adams, Van Buren, Buchanan). The last one elected president was sooo long ago, the 17th Secretary of State James Buchanan. He served at the State Department from 1845–1849 and eight years later became the 15th President of the United States and served one term from 1857 – 1861. So.
The candidate filing deadline is June 1, 2020 with the primary election scheduled for August 4, 2020. Let us know when he’s make up his mind, will ya?
Scoop with @JenniferJJacobs: Republican donors have been told to hold off contributing to the Senate race in Kansas under the expectation (and hope) that @SecPompeo will join at the last minute. https://t.co/NnMDsMWMh2
— Nicholas Wadhams (@nwadhams) August 13, 2019
NEW: Kansas GOP Weighs Senate Hopefuls While Pining for Pompeohttps://t.co/qgTY94Jvl3
— Lindsay Wise (@lindsaywise) August 13, 2019
Nation’s top diplomat visits International House of Pancakes in Kansas https://t.co/MhJq7X8mHi
(Pompeo in Kansas to celebrate mother-in-law's birthday but can't stop the buzz about that open Kansas Senate seat he's repeatedly said he won't run for)— Robbie Gramer (@RobbieGramer) August 13, 2019
A person close to @SecPompeo confirms the @axios report that he will travel back to Kansas in September to give a speech in his capacity as SoS as part of the Landon Lecture series at Kansas State University
Add that tea leaf to the rest…https://t.co/CAWN8HZIKj #KsSen
— Lindsay Wise (@lindsaywise) August 5, 2019
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared to re-open the door to a Kansas Senate run, telling a Kansas City radio station that he will “always leave open the possibility that something will change”https://t.co/dAeAPst9lV
— POLITICO (@politico) July 17, 2019
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo he'll remain in his role as President Trump’s top diplomat next year, forgoing a run for a soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat in his home state of Kansashttps://t.co/OVgzIGCe11
— POLITICO (@politico) February 21, 2019