UPDATE — 3:10 p.m.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Kansas must remain on the November ballot even though he wants to withdraw against incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts.

Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach said Thursday Democrat Chad Taylor did not comply with state law. He says Taylor didn’t formally declare that he would be unable to serve if elected.

Taylor Wednesday withdrew from the race without explanation, raising questions about whether he quit to give independent candidate Greg Orman a better shot at defeating three-term conservative Roberts, who has struggled to solidify re-election in a predominantly Republican state.

The Kansas race suddenly emerged as a wild card in the national fight for control of the U.S. Senate. Republicans need a net gain of six seats to control the chamber.

ORIGINAL POST

Former Democratic Senate candidate Chad Taylor said he consulted with party leaders “at every level” before deciding to bow out of the race. But leaders at the Kansas Democratic Party headquarters say they were caught completely by surprise.

Furthermore, neither party officials nor state election officials were able to say Thursday morning how, or even whether, the Democrats could name another candidate in time to have that name put on the Nov. 4 ballot.

“We are still assessing what’s going on,” state party chairwoman Joan Wagnon said. “I hadn’t thought about replacing a nominee.”

Wagnon said she and her staff would have to review the statutes that govern how to replace a candidate. That’s the exact same answer the Kansas Secretary of State’s office gave when it was asked what options were available.

“I’m unable to comment on that at this time. We’re still reviewing the laws,” said Bryan Caskey, a senior aide in the elections division.

Meanwhile, Kansas Republican Party officials say they may contest the legality of Taylor’s withdrawal.

Kansas GOP executive director Clay Barker said the basis for that lies in K.S.A. 25-306b, which says a party nominee can withdraw from a race if he or she, “declares that they are incapable of fulfilling the duties of office.”

It then goes on to say such person must file a written, notarized notice with the Secretary of State. But it doesn’t specifically say that the notice has to state why the person is “incapable of fulfilling the duties of office.”

Taylor’s notice, filed Thursday afternoon, made no such declaration about an inability to fulfill the office of U.S. Senator. But Barker said there nevertheless has to be a reason. And he said the logical next question is, if Taylor is incapable of fulfilling the duties of a senator, how can he still be capable of fulfilling the duties of Shawnee County District Attorney?

Republican Party state chairman Kelly Arnold suggested in a statement Thursday that Taylor’s withdrawal was orchestrated by national Democratic Party officials in Washington.

“This is an attempt by Liberal Washington Democrats to disenfranchise Kansas Democrats and invalidate their primary election,” Arnold said. “You cannot throw an election in the garbage because some people find the results inconvenient.”

All of this is happening just days before Saturday’s Kansas State Fair debates in Hutchinson, the traditional kicking-off point for the general election, where organizers had planned on having three podiums for the Senate debate, for Republican Pat Roberts, Taylor and independent candidate Greg Orman.

But party officials on all sides acknowledge that Taylor’s withdrawal changes the dynamics of the race, now making it either a two- or three-person race, depending on how one counts Libertarian candidate Randall Batson, who has been polling between 5 and 9 percent, just enough to make him a potential spoiler in the race.

Roberts has been polling below 40 percent, with Taylor and Orman combined taking about 50 percent of the vote. But it may be premature to assume that all of Taylor’s supporters will now automatically switch their allegiance to Orman, who has stated publicly that he will align himself with whichever party caucus has a majority in the Senate come January.

That being the case, the Senate race in Kansas may now be a contest between two Republicans. Orman’s preference will depend on how voters act in all the other states where there are competitive Senate races.