Republican secretary of state candidate picks up endorsements

? Two former Kansas secretaries of state have endorsed Republican Elizabeth Ensley in this year’s race.

Ensley, the Shawnee County election commissioner, is endorsed by fellow Republicans Bill Graves and Jack Brier.

Graves was secretary of state from 1987 to 1995, then was governor from 1995 to 2003. He’s now president and chief executive officer of the American Trucking Associations in Arlington, Va.

Brier, a prominent Topeka real estate developer, was secretary of state from 1978 to 1986.

Ensley was first appointed elections commissioner in 1992 by Graves.

In the Aug. 3 GOP primary, she faces J.R. Claeys of Salina, a former CEO of the National Association of Government Contractors; and former Kansas Republican Party Chairman Kris Kobach, of Piper.