photo by: Mike Yoder

President Donald Trump appears on stage with Kansas Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Kris Kobach at a rally Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka.

Story updated 9:13 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018.

TOPEKA – President Donald Trump was greeted like a conquering hero Saturday in Topeka as he led a campaign rally on behalf of Kansas Republicans just hours after the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

“This is a historic night,” Trump told a packed crowd at the Kansas Expocentre. “I stand before you today on the heels of a tremendous victory for our nation. Just a few hours ago, the U.S. Senate confirmed Judge Brett Kavanaugh … and I proudly signed the judge’s commission aboard Air Force One just before landing.”

Just before his appearance in Kansas, the Senate voted 50-48 to confirm Kanvanaugh’s nomination. That is expected to give conservatives a 5-4 majority on the court. That could produce a major shift in judicial philosophy on the court on a wide range of issues, but particularly abortion rights.

Both U.S. senators from Kansas, Republicans Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran, voted in favor of confirmation.

photo by: Mike Yoder

A capacity crowd fills the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka to hear President Donald Trump speak at a rally Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018.

Many people arrived at the arena hours before the event in hopes of getting the best seats. But word of the Senate’s vote quickly spread as the Trump faithful checked their emails, text messages and news alerts on social media.

One of those paying close attention was Mary Kay Culp, executive director of Kansans for Life, the state’s largest anti-abortion organization.

“I think it is a great day to be a Kansan, and a pro-life Kansan in particular,” Culp said in an interview before Trump took the stage. “Because I see this as just a slice of justice for all the babies that were aborted so late in Kansas, and their mothers have come to regret it. We feel like we have worked through the system for 40 years to get here and do things legitimately.”

But Julie Burkhart, founder of the abortion rights activist group Trust Women, based in Wichita, issued a statement denouncing Kavanaugh’s confirmation.

“Today, right-wing ensconced U.S. Senators listened, not to the people of this country, but instead, they took their marching orders from a president who is hell bent on destroying Roe vs. Wade, even though abortion rights have served to improve people’s health and well-being in the decades since it was handed down,” Burkhart said.

photo by: Mike Yoder

President Donald Trump addresses the crowd during a rally Saturday, Oct. 6., 2018 at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka.

Trump came to Topeka to rally support for the Kansas GOP and two of its top candidates on the ballot this year, gubernatorial hopeful Kris Kobach and 2nd District congressional candidate Steve Watkins.

Kobach, the current secretary of state, was the first major Kansas Republican to openly endorse Trump during the 2016 presidential primaries, and he served as an adviser on Trump’s transition team. Trump likewise endorsed Kobach before the Aug. 7 gubernatorial primary in Kansas.

Watkins is a military veteran and engineer who has never run for public office before. He won the GOP primary in the 2nd District with 27 percent of the vote in a crowded seven-way race.

Recent polls show both races to be extremely close. Kobach faces Democratic state Sen. Laura Kelly, of Topeka, in the governor’s race, while Watkins faces former Kansas House Democratic Leader Paul Davis, of Lawrence, in the 2nd District.

photo by: Mike Yoder

A capacity crowd fills the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka to hear President Donald Trump speak at a rally Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018.

The two Republicans, though, were hoping to benefit from what some have called the “Trump bump” — a surge in polling numbers following a high-profile public appearance from the president.

During his remarks, Trump lashed out at Democrats, particularly those who engaged in loud and sometimes confrontational protests at the Capitol.

“You don’t hand matches to an arsonist, and you don’t hand power to an angry left-wing mob,” Trump said to loud cheers. “Democrats have become too extreme and too dangerous to govern. Republicans believe in the rule of law, not the rule of the mob.”

That comment was greeted with extended chants of one of Trump’s favorite catchphrases, “Drain the swamp.”

Kobach used his time for remarks to praise Trump for taking a firm stand against illegal immigration.

“I’m so glad that America has a president who gets it and knows that illegal means illegal,” Kobach said to more chants of “Build the wall.”

photo by: Mike Yoder

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Steve Watkins, the Republican candidate for Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District, during a rally Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka.

Watkins also spoke briefly, heaping praise on the president while touting his own military service and the eight years he spent in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“In all that time, I really just learned a couple things,” Watkins said. “I know for sure that I have seen the devil. But I have also seen fighters. Donald Trump is a fighter.”

photo by: Mike Yoder

President Donald Trump addresses the crowd during a rally Saturday, Oct. 6., 2018 at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka.