TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) A former federal prosecutor from Kansas abandoned his Senate run on Thursday and endorsed a fellow Democrat who just entered the race.
Barry Grissom urged Democrats to unite behind state Sen. Barbara Bollier, a retired Kansas City-area anesthesiologist who made headlines in December by defecting from the Republican Party. Bollier was formerly a GOP moderate often at odds with the partys more conservative leaders and is running as a pragmatic Democrat and centrist.
Grissoms move comes with some top Republicans worried that former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a take-no-prisoners conservative who built a national profile by advocating for tough immigration policies, will capture the GOP nomination next year.
Democrats havent won a U.S. Senate race in Kansas since 1932, but they see Kobach winning the Republican nomination as their best chance for picking up the seat held by Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, who isnt seeking a fifth term.
If were going to make history in Kansas, it will require an extraordinary commitment to changing the trajectory of our country, and maybe a little bit of luck, too, Grissom said in a statement posted on his campaign website. I know a drawn-out primary would be unquestionably harmful and set us all back in this fight.
