The AFL-CIO will endorse Kansas Senate candidate Greg Orman, a spokesman for the labor union tells National Journal, giving the independent candidate from Kansas a last-minute lift in his race against Republican incumbent Pat Roberts.
The AFL-CIO won't run TV ads for Orman, spokesman Jeff Hauser said, but his campaign will now be incorporated into the union's extensive ground game there. The AFL-CIO had previously endorsed Kansas's Democratic Party's gubernatorial nominee, Paul Davis, who is locked into one of the country's most competitive gubernatorial contests with incumbent Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.
During Wednesday's debate, incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts repeatedly stressed that while Greg Orman may have an (I) next to his name, he also has the support of the major left-wing movement. Billionaire left-wing political activist George Soros has been involved in funding the Orman campaign. Michael Bloomberg and other prominent left-wing billionaires have chipped in to support Orman. Meanwhile, the Chamber of Commerce has come down on Pat Roberts' side.
Orman has maintained a strong lead with self-identified independent voters but Roberts has made it a central part of his campaign to convince those independents that Orman is not a centrist - he's a mainstream Democrat in disguise.