Report: Pompeo Discussing Running for Kansas Senate Seat in 2020
“He hasn’t closed the door.”
Politico reported on Sunday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo supposedly met with experienced Republican strategist to discuss running for the Kansas senate seat in 2020.
Republican Sen. Pat Roberts said he will not run for re-election in 2020.
From Politico:
Pompeo, a former congressman and ex-CIA director who in April 2018 was confirmed as secretary of State, is considering a Senate bid, though he has yet to make a final decision. Yet party leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, are aggressively wooing him. McConnell (R-Ky.) and Pompeo spoke shortly after Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts announced his retirement.
Pompeo and Baker are expected to talk about what a Senate campaign would entail. Baker has deep political experience, having served as National Republican Senatorial Committee executive director during the 2016 election cycle. During the 2018 midterms, he helped to spearhead Tennessee Republican Marsha Blackburn’s successful Senate bid. He is also close to McConnell.
A Pompeo departure would be a blow to the Trump administration, which has suffered an array of high-profile departures in recent months. In December, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis resigned after breaking with the president over his decision to withdraw troops from Syria.
If Pompeo leaves, that means Trump will have to fill openings at the State, Interior, and Defense Departments.
Roberts’ communications director Sarah Little told The Hill that the “staff is working to arrange a meeting between Pompeo and the senator, but that the Kansas Republican is unaware of the secretary’s plans for 2020.”
The Hill added:
A spokesperson for the State Department told The Hill that Pompeo is focused on his current job, but did not deny that the secretary could meet with Roberts.
“Secretary Pompeo is focused on serving the President and keeping Americans safe as the Secretary of State,” said Robert Palladino, a deputy spokesperson for the State Department.
The Washington Post described a move “from a coveted Cabinet position to vie for a spot as a junior member of the Senate” as “unorthodox,” which is why some believe he will not do it. That doesn’t mean Pompeo has not shut out other possibilities:
One person who has been in contact with Pompeo foresaw a situation in which Pompeo might want to “parachute out if things get bad.” The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid.
Democrats control the House, giving them the power to issue subpoenas and hold hearings on the Trump administration. Meanwhile, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III has not completed his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
“He hasn’t closed the door,” said one of the people familiar with the phone call, speaking of Pompeo’s posture on a Senate bid.
However, it may be a good idea for Pompeo to do it. While many associate Kansas with Republicans, it wasn’t a full red state this past cycle. The state elected a Democrat governor and flipped the 3rd District to Democrat. From The Washington Post:
From the perspective of McConnell and other Senate Republican leaders, the appeal of Pompeo is clear. He gives them a high-profile recruit with the ability to head off a potentially expensive and divisive primary for a must-keep GOP seat in a ruby-red state.
Given his stature, Kansas political roots and ties to Trump, Pompeo would be heavily favored to win if he entered the race. He served in the House for six years before Trump tapped him to head the CIA. Not long after Rex Tillerson’s departure from the secretary of state job last year, Pompeo won confirmation by the Senate to fill the post.
While we concentrate on the 2020 presidential election, we have to remember that Republicans will have to defend 22 seats in the Senate that year if no one else retires or resigns.
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Comments
From the little I know about the man, Pomeo comes off as a competent politician and uncowed by leftist coastal media personalities.
Winning Kansas is more important than his role as SoS – and it makes for a graceful exit from the Trump admin – something which can’t be exploited by hostile media.
if true Nikki Haley would make a wonderful SecState.
Sure, if you want Mitt Romney’s global, neocon, Mormon foreign policy. Never forget Haley is a RomneyClientTM and conveniently stepped down from POTUS service when Romney came to town …
Fantastic SecState, but as a Kansan I’d be happy to have him represent me in the US Senate as well.
In Kansas, We Like Mike.
“The Washington Post described a move “from a coveted Cabinet position to vie for a spot as a junior member of the Senate” as “unorthodox,” which is why some believe he will not do it.”
Maybe. Maybe not. Secretary of State to junior U.S. senator does seem like a step down, but Capt. Chaos steps on many people’s last nerve so frequently, they bail out.
Pompeo maybe game planning an exit strategy – just in case.
Trump has a lot of turnover because he doesn’t know Washington, has got a lot of bad advice on appointments from establishment Republicans who are mainly interested in keeping the party in control, and is still getting it. There are too many “party men” close to him that he trusts (I suspect Pence is one), advising him to appoint people who will serve the party, and not the president. There are a great many who need to be replaced, if Trump is going to have any control over government. Pompeo is one of the few good ones — Trump respects him and listens to him, and is very unlikely to push him out.
The Dems and the moderate Republicans dumped on Kobach like crazy to nuke him down to beatable numbers. There’s no way they’d tolerate him running for the Senate. I’m starting to think Pompeo would be the easy money candidate.
Pompeo is of more value to the country where he is, unless Bolton would replace him. But, Bolton is despised by the Republican establishment, and probably couldn’t get Senate approval. A competent Secretary of State is a rare thing, and it would be good to keep one.
I’d like to see Pompeo run for President in 2024. Pence, Romney, Bush, Rubio are all disasters just waiting for an opportunity to proudly bring dignity and failure to western civilization.
I think he should stay where he is.
But if I were Trump and Pompeo really wanted to be a Senator, I’d tell him I’d support him and then put the State Department in charge of getting the Wall built by 2020.