KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Vice President Mike Pence has rallied hundreds of fellow Republicans in Kansas City to boost Senate candidate Josh Hawley in Missouri and governor candidate Kris Kobach in Kansas.
Pence’s speech Friday to a crowd of several hundred people at a Kansas City, Missouri, basketball arena mixed remarks touting President Donald Trump’s record with praise for Hawley and Kobach as conservatives.
Hawley is the Missouri attorney general and is in a tough race against Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill.
Kobach is the Kansas secretary of state and in a dead-heat race against veteran state legislator Laura Kelly.
Pence and other speakers portrayed Democrats as favoring open borders. They also touched frequently on McCaskill’s vote against confirming U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Trump carried both states easily in 2016.
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Kansas Republican Kris Kobach is accusing Democrats of suffering from “open borders psychosis” on illegal immigration in appearing at a rally meant to boost his campaign for governor and GOP Senate candidate Josh Hawley in Missouri.’
Kobach is the Kansas secretary of state and spoke at a Friday rally in Kansas City, Missouri, sponsored by the American Conservative Union and the Family Research Council. Several hundred Republican voters and activists attended the event in a basketball arena.
Kobach has a national reputation as an advocate of tough immigration policies. He said Democrats are “cheering for more illegal immigrants.”
While speakers praised Hawley’s conservative credentials in his race against Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill. But they also focused on praising President Donald Trump. He carried both Kansas and Missouri in 2016 easily.
