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Kris Kobach
Kris William Kobach (/ˈkoʊbɑːk/ KOH-bahk; born March 26, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the attorney general of Kansas since 2023. He previously served as the 31st secretary of state of Kansas from 2011 to 2019. Kobach rose to national prominence as a hardliner on immigration, including his involvement in implementing high-profile ordinances targeting illegal immigration in various American cities.
Raised in Topeka, Kansas, he earned degrees from Harvard University, the University of Oxford, and Yale Law School before working as a law professor and serving in the U.S. Department of Justice. After an unsuccessful congressional campaign in 2004, Kobach was later elected chairman of the Kansas Republican Party in 2007, serving until January 2009. He was elected secretary of state in 2010, and re-elected in 2014. He was a candidate for governor of Kansas in 2018, defeating Jeff Colyer – who had recently become governor after Sam Brownback's resignation – in a close Republican primary, but losing in the November general election to Democrat Laura Kelly 48.01%–42.98%–6.50% in a three-way race with independent candidate Greg Orman.
He later ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2020, placing second in the Republican primary. He returned to elected office after being elected Attorney General of Kansas in 2022.
Kobach was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on March 26, 1966. His family moved to Topeka, Kansas, when he was seven years old, where his father owned a Buick dealership, that Kobach worked at while in high school. In 1984, Kobach graduated from Washburn Rural High School in Topeka, Kansas, where he was co-valedictorian, and the student body class president.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Harvard University, graduating summa cum laude and first in his department. Kobach was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa. The director of Harvard's Center for International Affairs, Professor Samuel P. Huntington, was Kobach's faculty advisor from 1984 to 1988. Huntington believed that migration, especially from Mexico and Latin America, represented the most perilous threat to what he called the "American identity." When Kobach taught law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Huntington's writings were required reading in the course.
From Harvard, Kobach went on to earn a Doctor of Philosophy in politics from Brasenose College of Oxford University, having been selected for a Marshall Scholarship. Returning to the U.S., he earned a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1995, and became an editor of The Yale Law Journal. During this time, Kobach published two books: The Referendum: Direct Democracy in Switzerland (Dartmouth, 1994), and Political Capital: The Motives, Tactics, and Goals of Politicized Businesses in South Africa (University Press of America, 1990).
From 1995 to 1996, Kobach clerked for Judge Deanell R. Tacha of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Lawrence, Kansas. He began his professorship at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law (UMKC) shortly thereafter. In 2001, President George W. Bush awarded him a White House Fellowship to work for Attorney General John Ashcroft. At the end of the fellowship, he stayed on as counsel to the attorney general. Shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, he led a team of attorneys and researchers who formulated and established the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System. In addition, he took part in work to reshape the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2002. After his government service ended, he returned to UMKC to teach law until he was elected Kansas Secretary of State.
While running for Congress in 2004, Kobach represented out-of-state students on behalf of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), in a lawsuit against the state of Kansas, challenging a state law which grants in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. The suit was dismissed for lack of legal standing for the plaintiffs. In 2005, Kobach filed a lawsuit on behalf of FAIR's Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), challenging a similar law in California. In September 2008, the California Court of Appeal held that California's law granting in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants was preempted by federal law. (Martinez v. Regents, 166 Cal. App. 4th 1121; 2008). In November 2010, the California Supreme Court unanimously reversed, finding that the law was not so preempted, because it was based on attendance for three years and graduation from a California high school.
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Kris Kobach
Kris William Kobach (/ˈkoʊbɑːk/ KOH-bahk; born March 26, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the attorney general of Kansas since 2023. He previously served as the 31st secretary of state of Kansas from 2011 to 2019. Kobach rose to national prominence as a hardliner on immigration, including his involvement in implementing high-profile ordinances targeting illegal immigration in various American cities.
Raised in Topeka, Kansas, he earned degrees from Harvard University, the University of Oxford, and Yale Law School before working as a law professor and serving in the U.S. Department of Justice. After an unsuccessful congressional campaign in 2004, Kobach was later elected chairman of the Kansas Republican Party in 2007, serving until January 2009. He was elected secretary of state in 2010, and re-elected in 2014. He was a candidate for governor of Kansas in 2018, defeating Jeff Colyer – who had recently become governor after Sam Brownback's resignation – in a close Republican primary, but losing in the November general election to Democrat Laura Kelly 48.01%–42.98%–6.50% in a three-way race with independent candidate Greg Orman.
He later ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2020, placing second in the Republican primary. He returned to elected office after being elected Attorney General of Kansas in 2022.
Kobach was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on March 26, 1966. His family moved to Topeka, Kansas, when he was seven years old, where his father owned a Buick dealership, that Kobach worked at while in high school. In 1984, Kobach graduated from Washburn Rural High School in Topeka, Kansas, where he was co-valedictorian, and the student body class president.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Harvard University, graduating summa cum laude and first in his department. Kobach was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa. The director of Harvard's Center for International Affairs, Professor Samuel P. Huntington, was Kobach's faculty advisor from 1984 to 1988. Huntington believed that migration, especially from Mexico and Latin America, represented the most perilous threat to what he called the "American identity." When Kobach taught law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, Huntington's writings were required reading in the course.
From Harvard, Kobach went on to earn a Doctor of Philosophy in politics from Brasenose College of Oxford University, having been selected for a Marshall Scholarship. Returning to the U.S., he earned a J.D. from Yale Law School in 1995, and became an editor of The Yale Law Journal. During this time, Kobach published two books: The Referendum: Direct Democracy in Switzerland (Dartmouth, 1994), and Political Capital: The Motives, Tactics, and Goals of Politicized Businesses in South Africa (University Press of America, 1990).
From 1995 to 1996, Kobach clerked for Judge Deanell R. Tacha of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Lawrence, Kansas. He began his professorship at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law (UMKC) shortly thereafter. In 2001, President George W. Bush awarded him a White House Fellowship to work for Attorney General John Ashcroft. At the end of the fellowship, he stayed on as counsel to the attorney general. Shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, he led a team of attorneys and researchers who formulated and established the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System. In addition, he took part in work to reshape the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2002. After his government service ended, he returned to UMKC to teach law until he was elected Kansas Secretary of State.
While running for Congress in 2004, Kobach represented out-of-state students on behalf of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), in a lawsuit against the state of Kansas, challenging a state law which grants in-state tuition to illegal immigrants. The suit was dismissed for lack of legal standing for the plaintiffs. In 2005, Kobach filed a lawsuit on behalf of FAIR's Immigration Reform Law Institute (IRLI), challenging a similar law in California. In September 2008, the California Court of Appeal held that California's law granting in-state tuition rates to illegal immigrants was preempted by federal law. (Martinez v. Regents, 166 Cal. App. 4th 1121; 2008). In November 2010, the California Supreme Court unanimously reversed, finding that the law was not so preempted, because it was based on attendance for three years and graduation from a California high school.
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