Sunflower State News

Kris Kobach, former Kansas Secretary of State, is running to replace Pat Roberts in the U.S. Senate. 

On May 18, Kobach signed the Declaration of Energy Independence, a pledge created by The Empowerment Alliance, a political action committee organization which supports America's to move toward a cleaner domestic energy plan and energy independence via natural gas.

In Kansas in 2018, 963,770 residential and business customers used natural gas to heat and power their buildings. In fact, according to The Empowerment Alliance, in 2018, 64.7 percent of Kansas households used natural gas for home heating. With 12 percent of the state’s residents living below the poverty level, using natural gas helps to lower household bills, resulting in more disposable income.

The state has 31,990 miles of natural gas pipelines and mains to supply the fuel. Kansas' use of natural gas has helped reduce carbon dioxide emissions statewide by 27.29 percent between 2007 and 2017.

Kobach is a Kansas native who grew up in Topeka. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard University, a doctorate from Oxford and a law degree from Yale University. His early legal career included serving as a law clerk for 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Deanell Reece Tacha. He worked as a constitutional law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City between 1996 and 2011. 

Kobach also served as a White House Fellow as chief advisor to Attorney General John Ashcroft, focusing on immigration law and border security, and was appointed as Ashcroft’s counsel when his fellowship ended. 

He ran for Secretary of State in 2010 and again in 2014. He stepped down from the office of Secretary of State in 2019 and joined We Build the Wall, as general counsel.

Kobach lives with his wife, Heather, on a small farm near Lecompton, Kansas. The couple has five daughters: Lilly, Reagan, Molly, Charlotte, and Josephine.