Schumer, author discussed possible Kansas Senate run: report

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and author Sarah Smarsh discussed a potential bid to represent Kansas in the U.S. Senate in 2020, The Kansas City Star reported Tuesday.

“Conversations have made it clear that, as a proud product of rural America, a longtime chronicler of Kansas for a national audience, and a progressive woman who was raised in a moderately conservative environment, I am a cultural bridge person who would offer voters a unique option in the race,” Smarsh told the newspaper.

{mosads}The author, a 2018 National Book Award finalist for “Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth,” added that she had met with Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), head of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and spoken with some presidential candidates.

Although Kansas has not had a Democratic senator since 1932, the party is reportedly hopeful that it can follow up on the success of electing Gov. Laura Kelly (D) and fill the seat of Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), who is retiring at the end of his term. 

Smarsh, who spoke at Kelly’s inauguration in January, told the Star she has received significant encouragement from party leaders and will continue to “slowly weigh” a bid.

“I became a writer, in part, to hold government accountable and call out cultural attitudes and policies that harm disadvantaged groups — including the working-poor Kansas farming community I grew up in,” she said.

Several other Democrats, including former U.S. Attorney for Kansas Barry Grissom and former Rep. Nancy Boyda (D-Kan.), are reportedly taking steps toward 2020 Senate campaigns.

On the Republican side, the field seems to be wide open after Secretary State Mike Pompeo “ruled out” running for Roberts’s seat.