Two Lawmakers Consider Attorney General Bids

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two Republican legislators are considering running for Kansas attorney general in 2022.

House Speaker Pro Tem Blaine Finch, of Ottawa, said Tuesday that he is looking at the race and will make a decision after lawmakers finish this month with their business for the year.

Senate Judiciary Chair Kellie Warren, of Leawood, said people are encouraging her to run, but she hasn’t made a definitive decision.

Incumbent Attorney General Derek Schmidt is seeking the Republican nomination for governor. Kris Kobach, a former Kansas secretary of state, announced his candidacy for attorney general last week, but many Republicans are wary because he is a polarizing conservative who lost races for governor in 2018 and for the U.S. Senate in 2020.

“I’ve had a lot of people ask me to look at the race,” Finch said, adding that the requests began before Kobach’s announcement.

Warren said the GOP needs a “winning, electable Republican” as the nominee.

“We’ve got to keep that seat in Republican hands,” she said.

Finch and Warren are attorneys. Finch has served in the House since 2013 and became its No. 3 GOP leader in 2019. Warren was elected to the House in 2018, then to the Senate in 2020.

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