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 Democrat Chad Taylor, a county prosecutor, filed papers to
withdraw from the U.S. Senate race on Wednesday, which could give
independent candidate Greg Orman a boost against incumbent
Republican Senator Pat Roberts.
However, the Kansas Secretary of State, Republican Kris Kobach, has
said Taylor did not follow the rules when he tried to withdraw and
ordered him to stay on the ballot, a position Taylor firmly denies.
Taylor's campaign staff has told party officials he is taking legal
action to overturn Kobach's decision, Kansas Democratic Party
Chairwoman Joan Wagnon said on Saturday.
"He is still collecting affidavits and he will file that lawsuit on
Monday," Wagnon said.
Taylor has not responded to messages left at his campaign office and
has not said why he seeks to withdraw from the race.
His withdrawal would prevent Taylor and Orman from splitting votes
and give a boost to the independent, potentially helping Democrats
retain a U.S. Senate majority in November.
Republicans must pick up a handful of seats to control the U.S.
Senate and have counted on Roberts holding his position.
Roberts and Orman debated Saturday at the Kansas State Fair,
disagreeing over whether Taylor withdrew on his own or at the
request of Democratic leaders. Taylor did not attend.
"This is the first time I've ever seen the national Democrats work
really hard to get a Democrat off the ballot," Roberts said.
Orman said Democrats did not consult his campaign before Taylor
filed the withdrawal papers.
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"All I can say is I think our progress at the polls was obviously
something he had to take into consideration," he said.
Taylor has trailed Roberts in the polls and in fund-raising and
Orman is seen as having a better chance in the conservative state of
toppling the incumbent if there is a two-way race.
Roberts received 37 percent, Taylor 32 percent and Orman 20 percent
in a SurveyUSA poll for KSN-TV Wichita taken from Aug. 20 to Aug.
23, which had a 4.2 percentage point margin of error.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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