At a parade this summer, candidate for governor Kris Kobach rode a jeep with a replica machine gun mounted on it. When some people complained the stunt scared children, Kobach, Kansas' secretary of state, mockingly called the reaction a "snowflake meltdown."
And he kept on riding the vehicle in other parades, posting photos on social media regularly.
Secretaries of state from middle America aren't generally household names. Kobach is the exception.
FILE - In this Nov. 20, 2016, file photo, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach stand with President-elect Donald Trump at the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J. Kobach, a GOP candidate for Iowa governor and an early supporter of Trump, is locked in a too-close-to-call race for the GOP nomination with Gov. Jeff Colyer. Trump named Kobach vice chairman of the president's election fraud commission, with Vice President Mike Pence as chairman. (AP PhotoCarolyn Kaster, File)
The 52-year-old Republican has a take-no-prisoners style of conservatism that delights hard-right members of the GOP but makes him a prime target of Democrats and centrists.
Now, Kobach is the GOP nominee in the gubernatorial race. Incumbent Gov. Jeff Colyer conceded the primary race Tuesday night - a week after the too-close-to-call vote threatened to send the race to a recount.
Despite holding what is usually a low-profile state post, Kobach has gained a national following, thanks to his tough stand on immigration and his push for stricter voter ID laws. Polling shows he has strong name recognition — and high negatives.
Consider his running battle with the American Civil Liberties Union. Faiz Shakir, national political director for the ACLU, said Kobach "rises to the very top" of any list of candidates whose records alarm the group.
Kobach responded by saying the ACLU's attacks actually helped him in the Republican primary.
He tends to bring out strong feelings among the voters.
Nineteen-year-old college student Tom Teeter of Topeka said of the possibility of Kobach being governor, "Oh, God, it horrifies me."
"He is doing his best to stop immigration and the illegal voting," said 73-year-old retiree Richard Cronister of Topeka, adding approvingly: "The ACLU and all those organizations are against him."
Educated at Harvard, Yale and Oxford, Kobach was an official with the U.S. Justice Department and Kansas Republican Party chairman before being elected secretary of state in 2010.
He immediately became known for helping to draft tough laws against illegal immigration, including Arizona's "show your papers" law in 2010. He called Kansas the "sanctuary state of the Midwest" for failing to enact more stringent policies. He was an early supporter of Donald Trump and has advised the president on immigration.
He is a staunch abortion opponent, wants to make Kansas laws even friendlier for gun owners and says he will push hard for tax cuts if elected governor.
Trump enthusiastically endorsed Kobach over the incumbent a day before the primary.
"Kris Kobach, a strong and early supporter of mine, is running for Governor of the Great State of Kansas," Trump tweeted. "He is a fantastic guy who loves his State and our Country - he will be a GREAT Governor and has my full & total Endorsement! Strong on Crime, Border & Military."
Kobach's national prominence rose during his crusade for strict voter ID laws. He called voter fraud a significant problem in Kansas, citing dozens of non-citizens on the state's voter rolls and nine criminal election-fraud cases he brought as secretary of state.
Critics such as Kansas Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley, a Topeka Democrat, have accused Kobach of engaging in "voter suppression." And many election experts say voter fraud is extremely rare.
But many GOP leaders across the country agree with him that it is rampant and requires tough ID laws. Trump named Kobach vice chairman of the president's election fraud commission, with Vice President Mike Pence as chairman.
Kobach's voter ID efforts have taken some recent hits, though. In June, a federal judge found the Kansas law unconstitutional. And the commission found no evidence to support Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 presidential election.
AP reporter Jim Salter in St. Louis contributed to this report.
TOKYO (AP) — The American envoy to the United Nations called Friday for countries armed with atomic weapons to pursue nuclear disarmament as she visited the atomic bomb museum in Nagasaki, Japan.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who became the first U.S. cabinet member to visit Nagasaki, stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy amid a growing nuclear threat in the region.
“We must continue to work together to create an environment for nuclear disarmament. We must continue to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in every corner of the world,” she said after a tour of the atomic bomb museum.
“For those of us who already have those weapons, we must pursue arms control. We can and must work to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place to ever experience the horror of nuclear weapons,” she added, standing in front of colorful hanging origami cranes, a symbol of peace.
The United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. A second attack three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.
Nagasaki Gov. Kengo Oishi said in a statement that he believed Thomas-Greenfield's visit and her first-person experience at the museum “will be a strong message in promoting momentum of nuclear disarmament for the international society at a time the world faces a severe environment surrounding atomic weapons.”
Oishi said he conveyed to the ambassador the increasingly important role of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in emphasizing the need of nuclear disarmament.
Thomas-Greenfield's visit to Japan comes on the heels of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit to the United States last week and is aimed at deepening Washington's trilateral ties with Tokyo and Seoul. During her visit to South Korea earlier this week, she held talks with South Korean officials, met with defectors from North Korea and visited the demilitarized zone.
The ambassador said the United States is looking into setting up a new mechanism for monitoring North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have thwarted U.S.-led efforts to step up U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile testing since 2022, underscoring a deepening divide between permanent Security Council members over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
She said it would be “optimal” to launch the new system next month, though it is uncertain if that is possible.
The U.N. Security Council established a committee to monitor sanctions, and the mandate for its panel of experts to investigate violations had been renewed for 14 years until last month, when Russia vetoed another renewal.
In its most recent report, the panel of experts said it is investigating 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks between 2017 and 2023 valued at approximately $3 billion, with the money reportedly being used to help fund its weapons development.
The United States, Japan and South Korea have been deepening security ties amid growing tension in the region from North Korea and China.
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, right, speaks to Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, second right, as they wait for a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, right, walk to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, talk prior to a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, prepare to talk during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
