Presuming Kansas U.S. Senator Jerry Moran wins his party’s nomination next year (it appears Milton Wolf will not challenge him), he will of course be a shoo-in to win a second term in the chamber. The real question is whether or not the Democratic Party will be able to field a nominee against him. No Democrats have filed to date, coming off the party’s failure to run a candidate in last year’s general election against incumbent Pat Roberts. [Primary winner Chad Taylor withdrew from the race with independent Greg Orman losing to Roberts by 10.6 points]. Kansas is currently one of only seven states in which Democrats have failed to run a nominee in at least two U.S. Senate races since the introduction of direct elections in the early 20th Century. [Roberts also did not face a major party challenger in 2002]. The other six states are California (1934, 1940, 1946, 1952), Minnesota (1918, 1928, 1936, 1936), Mississippi (1990, 2002), Vermont (1968, 2006, 2012), Virginia (1990, 2002), and Wisconsin (1925 special, 1928). Independent Monique Singh-Bey announced her U.S. Senate bid against Moran this week.

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