After delay, GOP's Kobach ekes out win

WASHINGTON, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Law professor and former Bush administration official Kris Kobach is claiming victory in the GOP primary in Kansas' 3rd Congressional District.

At the conclusion of the Aug. 3 GOP primary, Kobach led primary opponent Adam Taff, the GOP's unsuccessful 2002 nominee, by just 87 votes with close to 4,000 so-called provisional ballots still to be counted.

The final count had Kobach up by 207 votes, an upset considering Taff had the backing of former U.S. Sen. Bob Dole, current Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., who believed the former Navy officer was a better fit for the moderate district.

Kobach will face U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan., in the general election.

Moore, who ousted a one-term incumbent Republican in 1998 to win the seat - generally considered GOP home territory - won re-election in 2000 and 2002 with just 50 percent of the vote. George W. Bush carried the district in 2000 with 53 percent of the vote over 42 percent for Albert Gore Jr.