Pompeo taking meeting about running for Kansas Senate seat: report

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to meet Sunday with Republican strategist Ward Baker to discuss a potential bid in 2020 for an open Senate seat in Kansas, Politico reported, citing two people familiar with the plans. 

Pompeo and Baker will speak about what a Senate campaign would encompass, according to Politico.

{mosads}The meeting comes as Republican strategists, fearing that the seat could flip to Democrats, have pushed Pompeo to run for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.).

The Washington Post reported last week that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has personally encouraged Pompeo to depart from the State Department to make a bid for the seat.

Roberts, who announced earlier this month that he will not seek reelection in 2020, also plans to meet with Pompeo about running for the seat.

Pompeo, 55, represented Kansas in the House from 2011 through 2017.

He left the House to become the director of the Central Intelligence Agency after President Trump assumed office and became secretary of state in April of last year.