Topeka ? The race for the U.S. Senate continued to heat up this past week as the Kansas Supreme Court prepared to decide which candidates will appear on the ballot.

The court’s decision could have a big impact on who eventually wins the race and, as a result, which party controls the Senate next year.

On Tuesday, the court will hear arguments in the case of Taylor vs. Kobach, the lawsuit brought by Democratic candidate Chad Taylor seeking to force Secretary of State Kris Kobach to remove Taylor’s name from the ballot.

Many believe that if Taylor is successful, it could benefit Orman in his bid to unseat Roberts, a Republican seeking a fourth term in the Senate, something that could damage the Republicans’ hopes of winning control of the Senate next year.

On the other hand, leaving Taylor’s name on the ballot could siphon enough anti-Roberts votes away from Orman to tip an otherwise close race in Roberts’ favor, which would benefit Republicans nationally.

Democrats currently control the Senate by an effective margin of 55-45, including two independents who caucus with the Democrats. Republicans therefore need a net gain of at least six seats in order to reclaim a majority.

Kansas GOP executive director Clay Barker said he intends to watch the case closely, but believes Roberts can win regardless of how many challengers are on the ballot.

“Politically, whether Roberts faces one candidate or two, it’s just different strategies,” said Clay Barker, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party. “As far as which is better, probably two (opponents), but just having Orman has its advantages.”

Barker’s counterpart in the Kansas Democratic Party, Jason Perkey, would not comment on how that party will respond to the court ruling, and specifically whether it will nominate another candidate if the court agrees to take Taylor’s name off.

“It is very clear that Kansas needs new leadership and we’re going to be following this very closely,” Perkey said.

Taylor is being represented by Topeka attorney Pedro Irigonegaray, who has brought in help from a prominent national Democratic lawyer, Marc E. Elias, a Washington attorney who has previously represented the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Polls conducted before Taylor withdrew from the race showed him running a close second behind Roberts, with Orman not far behind in third, and Libertarian candidate Randall Batson polling in the single digits. Shortly after Taylor’s attempt to withdraw, a SurveyUSA poll showed a virtual tie between Roberts and Orman, with Taylor still getting 10 percent of the vote.

At issue in the court battle is a 1997 law that spells out the procedure for taking a nominee’s name off the ballot. That law allows for a withdrawal under only two circumstances: death, or a candidate’s incapacity to fulfill the duties of the office if elected.

In the latter circumstance, it says the candidate must “declare” that he or she would be incapable of holding the job, but it does not say the candidate must state what that incapacity is. Nor does it specify what qualifies as an incapacity.

Nonetheless, Kobach has refused to accept Taylor’s withdrawal, saying he failed to make such a declaration in the letter he filed with the Secretary of State’s office.

Taylor argues that he met the requirement of the law by filing a written, notarized letter saying he was withdrawing “pursuant to” that statute. He further argues that if the statute prevents any person from refusing to accept a nomination, then that would violate the Kansas Constitution’s guarantee of a right to free speech.

Taylor has not said publicly why he withdrew from the race, but he had come under pressure from some Democrats to pull out in order to give the better-financed Orman campaign a smoother path to unseating Roberts.

The court will hear arguments starting at 9 a.m. Tuesday. Both sides will be allowed 20 minutes for oral arguments.

Retired Douglas County District Judge Michael Malone will sit with the court to hear the case, as well as several other cases over the next few months. He will temporarily fill the seat recently vacated when former Justice Nancy Moritz was named to the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Caleb Stegall, whom Gov. Sam Brownback appointed to fill Moritz’s seat, will be sworn in as the newest justice Dec. 5.

The court is expected to rule quickly on the case because the deadline for finalizing ballots is Friday.