Supporters of Senator Pat Roberts cheer after his victory in the primary. (Photo by Stephen Koranda)Officials in the Kansas Republican Party are now trying to heal divisions among GOP voters following this week’s primary election. Some races were marked by competition between conservative and more moderate Republicans. Clay Barker, state Republican Party executive director, says the party treats all candidates equally, so it’ll be working to mend fences.
“There’s always some factions that fight with each other, and we try to rise above it. And at times in the past the party hasn’t, the leadership will take one side or the other,” says Barker.
Barker says that despite the high visibility of this year's primary races, this most recent election featured fewer Republican primary challenges than in some recent years.
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High-ranking Republicans in Kansas will be working to eliminate divisions between some GOP voters. That comes after this week’s primary election, which featured some contentious races among Republicans. KPR’s Stephen Koranda reports.
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There were Republican primaries in Kansas for offices including the U.S. Senate, the U.S House and the state Legislature. Some of them were tough fights, but the state Republican Party’s executive director, Clay Barker, says they’re going to be sending a simple message now to Kansas Republicans.
“Push the idea it’s one big team, everybody moves forward together,” says Barker.
One of the most divisive primaries this year was between tea party-backed challenger Milton Wolf and Kansas Senator Pat Roberts. Just moments after being declared the winner, Roberts started laying the groundwork to pick up Milton Wolf voters.
“Friends, we can't afford to waste scarce resources and energy tearing ourselves apart. We can’t afford a fractured party,” says Roberts.
In the fall election, Roberts will be facing Democrat Chad Taylor, independent Greg Orman and Libertarian Randall Batson.