President Trump recently encouraged Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to reconsider running for the U.S. Senate in Kansas but Pompeo rebuffed the request, according to two people familiar with the conversation.
Trump spoke to Pompeo about making a
bid for the seat during a one-on-one meeting at the White House about two weeks ago, both people said, suggesting that Pompeo could definitely keep the seat for Republicans if he ran.
Trump’s request underscores the
growing nervousness among Republicans that they could lose control of the Senate in this fall’s election and that a once safe Kansas seat could now be in play.
The president has received regular updates from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other political advisers about the worsening political landscape in the Senate, according to Trump advisers, who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private discussions. The president is regularly presented polling data about competitive Senate races.
“It’s a challenging environment. It has been consistently throughout this cycle. Just look at the numbers. That’s the only conclusion intelligently to read from it,” McConnell said to reporters this week.
Of the 35 Senate seats up for grabs this fall, Republicans are defending 23 of them. Republicans currently hold a 53-to-47 advantage in the Senate.
