How do you think candidates are chosen? In the case of the Kansas Senate race, the incumbent decided to run for reelection. Incumbents win 95% of the time, so parties only rarely organize challenges of incumbents. When they do it is invariably done behind the scenes and the incumbent announces that they have decided not to run in order to spend more time with the family. Roberts was challenged by a grass roots candidate, Dr. Milton Wolf who claimed the Tea Party label, but was really just a guy with a dream. He ran a terrible campaign and was defeated in the primary. The Republican voters of Kansas chose Roberts, not the GOP establishment.
The Republican voters of Kansas chose Roberts, not the GOP establishment.
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Indirectly they did select Roberts by not saying to him: “Pat, you’re 78 years old. That “residency” thing is gonna be a problem. You need to go ahead and retire before you drop dead in a couple of years. Thanks for your service, now, get your old, wrinkled ass out of here and go home to Virginia.”