Matt Schlapp Weighing Kansas Senate Bid

Conservative lobbyist Matt Schlapp is reportedly considering making a run for Senate in Kansas, the Washington Examiner reports.

Schlapp, the chairman of the Conservative Political Action Conference, fielded several calls about whether he plans on running after news broke that Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., plans on retiring after his current term.

“I am announcing I will serve the remainder of this term as your senator, fighting for Kansas in these troubled times. However, I will not be a candidate in 2020 for a fifth Senate term,” Roberts announced on Friday, according to The Washington Post.

Schlapp is the former director of the White House Office of Political Affairs under former President George W. Bush, and served as chief of staff to former Kansas congressman Todd Tiahrt. His wife, Mercedes Schlapp, is a communications adviser to the White House.

He encountered controversy last September, after tweeting a picture of several Democratic senators on the Judiciary Committee during Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings with the caption: "look at this photo conservative voters in WV, ND, IN, FL, MO, MT, MI, TN, AZ, NV." Critics were quick to note that the three senators featured were all people of color.

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