Top Kansas Republicans say they’ll back Trump; some won’t

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up as he speaks at campaign stop, Thursday, March 3, 2016, in Portland, Maine. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

TOPEKA — Top Republicans in Kansas reiterated their promises Wednesday to support Donald Trump as the party’s presidential candidate, and the state GOP’s chairman predicted that opponents of the brash billionaire will “come home” in November.

But at least a few Republicans said they refuse to support Trump, even though his path to the GOP nomination has cleared. Trump’s decisive victory Tuesday in the Indiana primary forced Texas Sen. Ted Cruz out of the race, and Ohio Gov. John Kasich dropped out Wednesday.

“Donald Trump is nothing but a con artist who has hijacked the Republican Party,” said state Rep. Brett Hildabrand, of Shawnee, a Cruz supporter. “I’m hoping something happens at the convention. I don’t know what the options are.”

Cruz scored convincing victory in Kansas’ March caucuses, capturing 24 of the state’s 40 delegates to the GOP national convention to nine for Trump, one for Kasich and six for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who dropped out in March. State party rules require the delegates to vote for their candidates until formally released by them.

Both Gov. Sam Brownback and U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts endorsed Rubio ahead of the caucuses, and then said they’d endorse the eventual Republican nominee. Brownback spokeswoman Eileen Hawley said the governor will still support the party’s candidate. Roberts said in an emailed statement: “I intend to support the nominee.”

But Sen. Jerry Moran stopped short of such a promise. He said in a statement: “Mr. Trump must now work to address the serious concerns many conservatives — myself included — have about some of his positions and comments, as well as unite the Republican Party around our common goal of securing a brighter future for our kids and grandkids. If he accomplishes this, he will have my support.”

Trump’s most prominent Kansas endorsement before the state’s caucuses came from Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who previously helped Arizona and Alabama draft tough laws against illegal immigration. Kobach said he believes Republicans who have misgivings about Trump, particularly conservatives, will come around and that chances are “infinitesimally small” that GOP voters will not go to the polls or vote for Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

“I am as conservative as they come, and I realize Donald Trump can carry the conservative cause effectively,” Kobach said.

State GOP Chairman Kelly Arnold, a Cruz delegate, said Republicans will realize that their ultimate goal is to see that Clinton does not win the presidency. The Republican nominee has carried Kansas in every election since 1964.

Arnold said Trump also has brought new voters into the party’s caucuses and primaries.

“Our Republicans always come home,” Arnold said. “There is an excitement about Donald Trump out there that we have not seen in the party, that’s outside the party.”

But state Rep. Amanda Grosserode, a Cruz supporter from Lenexa, said she’ll remain part of the “Never Trump” movement. She said Trump’s critics within the GOP can back a third-party candidate, write in a candidate or simply not cast a vote.

Trump is neither a conservative nor a true Republican, she said, adding that she dislikes his “personal demeanor.”

“Personally, who he is and how he conducts himself is repugnant,” she said.