Kansas independent candidate Orman: I could switch my party vote in the Senate

Kansas independent candidate Orman: I could switch my party vote in the Senate
(Image credit: Orman for Senate)

Independent candidate Greg Orman has turned the Kansas Senate race into an unexpected wild card in this election season, with the distinct possibility that his vote could determine whether the Democrats or the Republicans control the U.S. Senate. And, he has said in an interview with NBC News, he would even keep the option of switching his vote during a Senate session.

"If four or five months goes [sic] by, and it's clear that they're engaged in the same old partisan politics, we'll be able to change our allegiances and work with the other side," he said. "And I think that's a really strong and important tool, to hold the Senate accountable for actually getting something done."

NBC's Kelly O'Donnell asked: "So you can envision switching which party you'd work with, once you were there?"

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"Sure," said Orman. "And ultimately, again, this is about solving problems. This is about the voters of Kansas saying, the status quo doesn't work anymore. So, absolutely."

Orman currently leads incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts in all the public polling. He was also helped quite a bit when the Democratic nominee, Chad Taylor, dropped out of the race, thus consolidating the anti-Roberts vote in a state that has only sent Republicans to the Senate since the 1930s. --Eric Kleefeld

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.