Kris Kobach facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Kris Kobach
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Kobach in 2024
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| 45th Attorney General of Kansas | |
| Assumed office January 9, 2023 |
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| Governor | Laura Kelly |
| Preceded by | Derek Schmidt |
| 31st Secretary of State of Kansas | |
| In office January 10, 2011 – January 14, 2019 |
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| Governor | Sam Brownback Jeff Colyer |
| Preceded by | Chris Biggs |
| Succeeded by | Scott Schwab |
| 64th Chair of the Kansas Republican Party | |
| In office January 28, 2007 – January 31, 2009 |
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| Preceded by | Tim Shallenburger |
| Succeeded by | Amanda Adkins |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Kris William Kobach
March 26, 1966 Madison, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Heather Mannschreck
(m. 2001) |
| Children | 5 |
| Education | Harvard University (BA) Brasenose College, Oxford (MPhil, DPhil) Yale University (JD) |
| Signature |  |
Kris William Kobach (born March 26, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician. He has been the Attorney General of Kansas since 2023. Before that, he was the Secretary of State of Kansas from 2011 to 2019.
Kobach was once the leader of the Kansas Republican Party. He became well-known for his strong views on immigration. He helped create and support laws in different cities to control undocumented immigration.
He started his political journey on the City Council in Overland Park, Kansas. In 2004, he ran for the U.S. House of Representatives but lost. He was elected Secretary of State of Kansas in 2010. As Secretary of State, he put in place some of the strictest voter identification laws in the United States.
In 2018, Kobach ran for Governor of Kansas but was defeated by Laura Kelly. In 2019, he ran for a U.S. Senate seat but lost in the primary election. In 2022, he became the Republican candidate for Kansas Attorney General and won the election.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Kris Kobach was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on March 26, 1966. When he was seven, his family moved to Topeka, Kansas. His father owned a car dealership where Kris worked during high school. He graduated from Washburn Rural High School in 1984 as a top student.
He went to Harvard University and earned a degree in Government. He graduated with high honors. After Harvard, he studied at Oxford University in England, where he earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree. He then went to Yale Law School and earned a law degree in 1995. While studying, he also wrote two books.
Legal Career and Government Work
From 1995 to 1996, Kobach worked for a judge in Kansas. After that, he became a law professor at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law.
In 2001, he received a special award called a White House Fellowship. This allowed him to work for the U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. After the September 11 attacks, he helped create a system to track people entering and leaving the country for national security reasons. He also helped change how immigration appeals were handled. After his government service, he returned to teaching law.
Immigration Policies and Lawsuits
Kobach has been very active in creating and defending laws related to immigration. He has been involved in many lawsuits.
He represented students in a lawsuit against Kansas. This lawsuit challenged a state law that gave in-state college tuition to undocumented immigrants. He filed similar lawsuits in California and Nebraska.
Kobach also defended cities that passed laws to discourage undocumented immigration. He was the main lawyer for Valley Park, Missouri, in a case about a law requiring businesses to use a federal worker check program. The court upheld this law.
He also defended Hazleton, Pennsylvania, and Farmers Branch, Texas, in cases about their local immigration laws. These laws tried to prevent people from employing or renting to undocumented immigrants. Many of these laws faced legal challenges and were eventually overturned or changed.
Kobach also helped write Arizona SB 1070, a state law that was one of the strictest immigration measures. He helped defend this law in court. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld one part of the law but struck down others.
He also helped write Alabama HB 56, another strict immigration law. Much of this law was also later changed or found to be invalid.
Political Career
Early Political Involvement
Kobach started his political career on the Overland Park City Council in 1999. After the September 11 attacks, he helped create a program that required men from certain countries to be fingerprinted, photographed, and questioned.
In 2004, he ran for Congress in Kansas but lost the election. During this campaign, he became known for his strong views on immigration. He even spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention, calling for the U.S. military to help secure the Mexican border.
Kansas Republican Party Leader
In 2007, Kobach was elected to lead the Kansas Republican Party. He made many changes to how the party ran its election efforts. He focused on raising money for important races and getting the state party more involved.
Kansas Secretary of State
In 2009, Kobach announced he would run for Kansas Secretary of State. He won the election in 2010. As Secretary of State, he put in place some of the strictest voter identification laws in the country.
One of his main goals was to require new voters to prove they were U.S. citizens when they registered. He also pushed for voters to show photo identification when voting in person.
In 2014, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled against Kobach in a case about a U.S. Senate candidate withdrawing from the ballot. Kobach had tried to keep the candidate's name on the ballot, but the court said it should be removed.
Voter Fraud Claims
As Secretary of State, Kobach often claimed that voter fraud was a big problem in the United States. He said there were many non-citizens registered to vote in Kansas, but these claims were often questioned by experts.
He supported claims that millions of non-citizens voted in the 2016 presidential election. However, these claims were widely shown to be incorrect by fact-checkers and election experts.
In 2015, Kobach gained the power to prosecute voter fraud cases in Kansas. By 2017, he had filed nine cases and obtained six convictions. These cases were mostly about people voting in more than one state, often by mistake. Critics said he focused too much on minor cases.
Crosscheck Program
Kobach also led the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program. This program compared voter records from different states to find people who might be registered in more than one place. The program grew to include many states.
However, the program was criticized for being inaccurate. It often created "false matches" because it only used names and birth dates. This meant many legitimate voters were flagged by mistake. Due to concerns about accuracy and data security, the program was temporarily stopped in 2018.
Commission on Election Integrity
In 2017, President Donald Trump appointed Kobach as vice-chairman of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. This commission was created to look into claims of improper voting.
Kobach asked election officials in every state to share voter data, including names, birth dates, and parts of Social Security numbers. Many states refused, saying their laws protected voter privacy. The commission was later disbanded in 2018 without issuing a report.
2018 Kansas Governor Election
In 2017, Kobach announced he would run for Governor of Kansas. He won the Republican primary election by a very small number of votes.
In the general election, he ran against Democratic state senator Laura Kelly. Many former Republican governors of Kansas supported Laura Kelly, saying her experience was better for the state. Laura Kelly defeated Kobach in the election.
2020 U.S. Senate Election
In 2019, Kobach announced he would run for a U.S. Senate seat. However, he lost in the Republican primary election to Roger Marshall.
2022 Kansas Attorney General Election
In 2022, Kobach ran for Kansas Attorney General. He won the Republican primary against two other candidates. In the general election, he faced Chris Mann, a former police officer and prosecutor. Kobach won the election by a small margin and became the Attorney General of Kansas in January 2023.
Political Views
Immigration Views
Kobach is known for his strong views on immigration. He believes that the United States should limit the number of immigrants allowed each year. He has written articles claiming that immigrants commit more crimes, but studies have shown that immigrants are actually less likely to commit crimes than people born in the U.S.
Barack Obama's Citizenship
Kobach repeatedly questioned whether former President Barack Obama was born in the United States. He asked Obama to release his birth certificate, even after Obama had already done so. Kobach said he needed more proof before Obama could be on the Kansas ballot for the 2012 presidential election. However, after Hawaii officials confirmed Obama's birth certificate was real, Kobach allowed him to remain on the ballot.
Personal Life
Kris Kobach grew up in Topeka, Kansas. His family moved there when he was seven. His great-grandparents came to Wisconsin from Poland and Norway in the 1890s.
In 2001, Kobach married Heather Mannschreck. They have five daughters, who are homeschooled. The family lives on a farm near Lecompton, Kansas.
Kobach has volunteered for various causes. He did missionary work in Uganda and helped build a school in South Africa. He was also a "Big Brother" in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. He is an Eagle Scout. He was also a national rowing champion multiple times.
Images for kids
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Kris Kobach's signature
