Conservative group launches ad campaign for Rep. Roger Marshall in Kansas Senate race

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce launched a $400,000 ad campaign on Monday to boost Rep. Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) in the Kansas Senate primary.

Marshall is running to replace retiring Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) in a crowded primary, which is set for August. The ad focuses on Marshall’s record helping veterans, including increasing access to STEM education and increasing opportunities for entrepreneurs.

Club for Growth had initially run attack ads against Marshall, but top Republicans including President Trump have reportedly pressed it to change stance.

“Respecting our veterans and renewing our economy — thank Roger Marshall and ask him to keep fighting for our brave veterans,” the ad said. The ad will play in the Kansas City metro market, the Kansas City Star reported. 

The Chamber spent just under $1 million ahead of Sen. Thom Tillis’s (R-N.C.) primary in March, but Marshall is the only non-incumbent GOP Senate primary it has spent money on.

Marshall’s top Republican rivals are former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, an anti-immigration hard-liner who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2018, and businessman Bob Hamilton. Plains PAC, a newly launched GOP group, launched a $3 million ad campaign attacking Kobach, according to the Kansas City Star. 

The Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, rates the Kansas open seat as “lean Republican.”