Kansas GOP steps into dispute in US Senate race

The Kansas Republican Party has stepped into a dispute over whether U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts is eligible to run for re-election and suggested to a state board that it probably doesn’t have the authority to settle the issue.

Three-term incumbent Roberts faces a claim that he’s not truly a Kansas resident and should be barred from the state’s Aug. 5 Republican primary ballot. State GOP General Counsel Clay Barker sent the party’s legal analysis Saturday to State Objections Board members.

The three-member board plans to review the issue Monday.

GOP primary challenger Milton Wolf contends that Roberts truly lives in Virginia. Roberts says the claim is without merit.

The state GOP’s analysis noted that the U.S. Constitution says each house of Congress judges the qualifications of its members.