Former Republican A.G. Carla Stovall backs Laura Kelly in Kansas governor's race

Former Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall announced Monday she would back Gov. Laura Kelly in the governor's race, the first former Republican statewide official to endorse Kelly who did not also do so in 2018.

Stovall has endorsed Democrats before, backing Paul Morrison over her successor, Republican Phill Kline in the 2006 attorney general race. But she has been generally less visible in state politics since leaving office and exiting the 2002 Kansas governor's race.

In a video announcing the decision, Stovall said she has purposefully not endorsed many candidates in recent years but said "the stakes of this election are too high."

"I have seen how Derek has used my former office these last few years and I worry he will replicate that in the Governor’s office," Stovall said. "He uses taxpayer dollars to pursue a particular political agenda that does not respect the views of most Kansans."

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Stovall served in the AG's office from 1995 to 2003 and also was head of the National Association of Attorneys General. Schmidt also worked as an assistant attorney general under Stovall before running for the state Legislature.

She has previously been critical of what she has called the increasingly politicized nature of attorneys general nationally, telling the Capital-Journal last year that "when the law is used as a means to a political end, I think it crumbles our foundation."

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Schmidt also worked for other prominent Republicans — former U.S. Sen. Nancy Kassebaum and former Gov. Bill Graves — who have endorsed Kelly. All three also did so in 2018, when Kelly defeated former Republican Secretary of State Kris Kobach.

Schmidt's campaign has pointed to their backing from prominent former U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts and the late U.S. Sen. Bob Dole. Cherokee County Sheriff David Groves, a Democrat, also has backed Schmidt.

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"Carla Stovall has only endorsed Democrats since leaving office, so no surprise here," CJ Grover, Schmidt's campaign manager, said in text message. "Derek is proud of his long list of support from strong Kansas Republicans like the late-Senator Bob Dole, Senator Pat Roberts, Secretary Mike Pompeo and many others who know Derek will provide the commonsense conservative leadership Kansas needs in the governor's office."

They also hit back with endorsements of their own in recent days, including from Kelly's former budget director, Larry Campbell.

A Republican appointed under Gov. Jeff Colyer, Campbell also served for two years under Kelly, but argued Schmidt would be a better choice to manage state finances and that she had "put Kansas on an unsustainable path" with her spending decisions.

The race between Kelly and Schmidt is expected to be a toss-up, with polling last month from Emerson College showing the race to be inside the margin of error.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly endorsed by former Republican AG Carla Stovall