Hours after AP calls Kansas AG race, Democrat Chris Mann has no plans to concede to Kobach

Republican Kris Kobach won the race for Kansas attorney general, but on Wednesday Democrat Chris Mann refused to concede despite having close to no chance of overcoming a deficit of more than 22,100 votes.

Mann declined to acknowledge he had lost the race, even after the Associated Press and other major news organizations called the contest. Kobach also himself declared victory late Tuesday.

Mann held out even after Kansas Republican Attorney General Derek Schmidt congratulated Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly on “her apparent reelection” and said that “absent any unexpected development it appears this race is over.” The margin of less than 15,000 votes between Kelly and Schmidt was smaller than Kobach’s lead over Mann.

On Tuesday night, Mann referenced the lack of a formal call by media outlets in his refusal to concede, but after the AP had formally called the race the following day Mann remained unpersuaded on the outcome.

The first-time candidate faced growing pressure Wednesday to acknowledge the seemingly inevitable. But Mann’s campaign referred to advance ballots in the mail that may still arrive at election offices and be counted in explaining why he hadn’t conceded.

“There are tens of thousands of Kansas voters who mailed their ballots in before Election Day. They deserve for their votes to be counted as the law allows. That is essential to democracy,” Mann’s spokesperson Kelli Kee said in an email.

As of Wednesday about 29,000 mail in ballots had not yet been returned to Kansas election offices. Postmarked ballots have until Monday to arrive and be counted. Of the outstanding ballots about 14,000 belonged to Democrats and just over 8,600 belonged to Republicans.

Mann conceding the race, however, would not stop the counting of ballots. Generally, candidates concede when it is no longer realistically possible for them to win the race, something the Associated Press found to be true hours ago.

His reluctance to concede comes at a time when U.S. politics is still grappling with the fallout of former President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede the 2020 election to President Joe Biden, which has continued to fuel conspiracy theories and threats to election officials two years later.

State Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat, said he couldn’t blame Mann for wanting to ensure all votes are counted, but he said once it becomes clear the race is unwinnable he should concede.

“It is not the right thing to do to not congratulate the victor on his or her victory in a timely manner,” Carmichael said. “That is critical in a time when some people question elections.”

Kobach, a former Kansas secretary of state, served as an adviser on Texas’ failed litigation that attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Despite Kobach’s involvement in the 2020 litigation, his campaign took Mann to task for his “sore-loser bitterness or a stunning lack of understanding of how Kansas election laws work.”

State Sen. J.R. Claeys, a spokesman for Kobach, said in a statement the attorney general race was over, regardless of what Mann said.

“The race has been called by multiple media outlets because there is no path for the Democrat in the outstanding ballots,” Claeys said. “Chris Mann is welcome to cling to delusion. We’re moving forward with the assembly of a transition team and the vetting of potential appointees.”

Other Republicans also said it was time for Mann to step aside.

“Conceding is basically a courtesy to your opponent and saying thank you for the opposition, thank you for running and we didn’t make it this time but I value the process and I respect the peaceful transfer of power,” said state Rep. Blake Carpenter, a Derby Republican. “By not just doing something that is a time honored tradition, I think continues to chip away at those foundations we have within our system.”

Carpenter said he believes Kansas elections are secure but has backed legislative efforts to change election law inspired by Trump’s rhetoric in 2020.

The Star’s Jonathan Shorman contributed reporting.

This story was originally published November 9, 2022 6:06 PM.