To the editor:

The Journal-World has published a number of articles recently on Kris Kobach, candidate for secretary of state and one of the primary authors of the infamous Arizona immigration law. None of these articles include any information on Kobach’s Arizona associates.

Kobach helped draft the Arizona law in his role as a lawyer with the legal arm of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), which is listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. (SPLC is the most prominent American organization tracking and monitoring hate groups.)

According to SPLC, FAIR has received more than a million dollars from the Pioneer Fund, an organization devoted to eugenics and trying to prove connections between race and intelligence. John Tanton, the founder of the Pioneer Fund and a current board member, is an outspoken white supremacist. FAIR president Dan Stein has warned that immigrants are engaged in “competitive breeding” aimed at diminishing white power.

Another associate of Kobach is Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce, the principal sponsor of the Arizona law. SPLC reports that Pearce has shared articles from the neo-Nazi National Alliance with his supporters. Among other things, these articles dismiss racial equality and deny the Holocaust.

The fact that Kobach associates with these groups and individuals does not, of course, prove that he shares their views. It certainly raises questions, however, about his character and intentions. Given Kobach’s political ambitions in Kansas, it behooves the Journal-World to investigate and report on his views and connections.