Sen. Pat Roberts has stepped up his fundraising efforts on Capitol Hill in a bid to save his Senate seat from challenger Greg Orman who has surged 10 points ahead of him in the
latest poll out this week.
According to
The Hill, Roberts has been aggressively making calls to lobbyists to raise money as he takes on the wealthy, self-funded independent who is on track to significantly outspend Roberts in the final weeks.
"The old man is raising 100 grand a day. I'm serious. Ask any lobbyist of anyone in Washington if they've gotten a call from Pat Roberts. He's stepping up," a Republican source close to the campaign told The Hill.
"It's amazing what a little fear will do to somebody," the source added.
A number of GOP lobbyists said they appreciated having him reach out.
"I got a call from Pat, I was glad to get it. I think he's a great senator. I've known Pat a long time. Nobody eats, breathes and lives Kansas like Pat," former Arkansas Sen. Tim Hutchinson, a lobbyist with Greenberg Traurig, told The Hill.
Roberts has had the advantage of drawing on relationships from 18 years of service in the Senate and 16 in the House of Representatives.
"Pat Roberts is an old friend. I served with him on the House Agriculture Committee and he did call me to ask if we could help and we will," former New York Rep. James Walsh, a government affairs counselor with K&L Gates, told The Hill, adding, "I don't know who else has gotten calls but I suspect pretty much everyone has."
The strategy does carry the risk of reinforcing accusations that he is a Washington insider, out of touch with his constituency, and Orman has already criticized him for relying on "special interests."
"Over four decades in Washington Pat Roberts has taken advantage of special interest largesse like no other Kansan has done before," Jim Jonas, Orman's campaign manager said in a press release, according to The Hill. "The $8 million Pat Roberts has taken from PACs is part of why voters wonder whether Roberts is working for Kansans or the special interests in Washington."