Kris Kobach

Critics of Kobach, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, claim he overreaches on cases that district attorneys deemed not worth prosecuting, and allege that he is motivated by racism. In his 2020 U.S. Senate campaign, Kobach hired a white supremacist who had also backed his 2018 gubernatorial campaign. In 2017, while vetting Kobach as a potential appointee for the administration of Donald Trump, the Republican National Committee raised "White Supremacy" as a possible problem affecting such an action.

In a live-streamed debate on May 22, 2020, in a ballroom devoid of spectators due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all candidates praised president Donald Trump. Kobach took on his opponents who all agreed that he could not not win the general election against presumptive Democratic nominee, Barbara Bollier. They were Wagle, former Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Dave Lindstrom, wealthy businessman Bob Hamilton, and incumbent congressman Roger Marshall. Marshall said, "We cannot afford to send a failed candidate back this fall who will lose to Barbara Bollier and hand the Senate majority over to Chuck Schumer." "Instead, we need to send a tried and trusted friend of President Trump." Referring to Marshall, Kobach replied, "Do you want a go-along-to-get-along kind of senator, a gutless wonder who never takes a stand, or, do you want someone who poses a threat?" Hamilton said voters didn't have to choose between Kobach, who couldn't win, and a moderate Marshall, in whose behest the state party leaders had urged Senator Wagle and Lindstrom, to drop out of the race. Objecting to the party pressure, Lindstrom characterized his opponents as "shortsighted, self-serving...career politicians who are divisive, controversial," and, "have a record of losing elections." Wagle touted her own candidacy, saying, "It’s very, very important that we send a leader to the U.S. Senate who is articulate, who is persuasive, who other people respect." "I'm the one who's already debated Barbara Bollier." "I win on the Senate floor. I've beat (sic) her numerous times," "...the conservative voice that can beat that liberal voice in the U.S. Senate." In response to a claim that Marshall would not prioritize agriculture, Marshall said, "Fake news and another lie by Kris Kobach."

In late March 2019, the Associated Press reported that President Trump was considering creating a post of "immigration czar" to coordinate efforts among federal agencies involved in the issues, with Kobach being one of two top candidates for the job. On July 8, 2019, Kobach launched his 2020 campaign for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Kansas Senator Pat Roberts and implied he had the support of President Donald Trump.

By January 2019, Kobach joined Kolfage's advisory board, saying he was currently unpaid, but might take a paid position with Kolfage's organization. Kobach indicated the most substantial problems along the border were "litter and security." Regarding a phone call between him and the president on January 23, 2019, Kobach reported that Trump endorsed the project saying, "...the project has my blessing, and you can tell the media that," though the White House has not independently confirmed that contention. In addition to Koflage's history, another basic problem with the scheme is that almost all the land on the border is in the hands of the federal government, border states, and Native American tribes. The small number of privately owned border parcels in proximity to the demarcation are widely dispersed, leaving few opportunities to allow for the construction of any connected barriers. That left open the question, for what purpose would all that money actually be used? As the money Kolfage is accumulating is going to a 501(c)4, it could all be spent as "dark money" in political campaigns, with next to no public reporting of expenditures required.

Kobach announced he is running for the United States Senate seat being vacated by the retiring Pat Roberts. Roberts is opposed to his candidacy, however, as is the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC). Its officials privately informed Kansas Republicans that should Kobach enter the race, the NRSC would labor to assure he doesn't win the primary. Referring to the theme, he said, "I’ve been on the southern border constantly in the past six months and I can tell you stories that will make your skin crawl." A spokesperson confirmed Kobach had spoken to President Trump about the announcement of his candidacy on July 4. "I don’t talk about what the president and I say in our communications, but let me just say he was very encouraging when we spoke a few days ago." Kobach was credited with introducing the controversial tactic of adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census questionnaires, but it was thought his advocacy may have led to the Supreme Court ruling against the initiative, as the Trump administration informed the court that U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross had initiated the divisive proposal. Joanna Rodriguez, the NRSC press secretary, stated, "Just last year Kris Kobach ran and lost to a Democrat. Now, he wants to do the same and simultaneously put President Trump’s presidency and Senate Majority at risk. We know Kansans won’t let that happen and we look forward to watching the Republican candidate they do choose win next fall." Kobach said he thought the NRSC had not taken such a position, responding to an inquiry, "The race in the Kansas Senate is going to be about President Trump. It’s certainly not going to endanger President Trump." Kobach's 2020 campaign employed Joe Suber, an Olathe, Kansas man who regularly makes posts to a white nationalist, Holocaust-denialist website, The Unz Review. Suber had set up and became the registered agent for a limited liability corporation, 'Kobach for Senate."

Kobach's involvement with the 501(c)4, "We Build the Wall," (WBtW) has given cause for concern, as the fundraising and campaign mailing lists it is accumulating are prohibited from coordinating with his Senate campaign, but the ability and appetite for effective oversight within the Trump administration are anticipated to likely be inadequate. On August 1, 2019, Kobach sent out a campaign fundraiser using both the corporate name and email list of WBtW donors. Common Cause Vice President for policy and litigation Paul S. Ryan said, "At a minimum, this Kobach for Senate fundraising solicitation email appears to violate the 'paid for by' disclaimer requirement" for official campaign communications. Ryan specified the requirement that mandates disclosure of the financial sponsors who originate official political communications. Kobach's email might be legal if his campaign paid fair market value for the use of WBtW's list. If that were the case, a "paid for by" disclaimer would be required but was not present in the solicitation. Ryan said, "If the Kobach committee did not pay fair market value for the cost of disseminating this email, then the Kobach committee has arguably committed the more serious campaign finance law violation of receiving a corporate contribution in the form of a coordinated expenditure." We Build The Wall is legally prohibited from financing federal political campaigns, in any fashion. Besides the concerns raised about Kolfage himself, a week prior to the mailer, right-wing anti-immigrant, WBtW board member and former congressman Tom Tancredo sat on the stage alongside Kobach and endorsed him in a New Mexico rally pushing the Wall. The Kobach campaign said after Common Cause filed a formal complaint and request for an investigation into the apparent violations, that it is a "radical leftist organization" that the complaint was without substance and, "This attack by Common Cause also includes a frivolous letter to the Department of Justice, asking the Department of Justice to launch a pointless investigation. This is also typical of Common Cause tactics and it is intended to cause distraction wherever conservative Republicans are leading in important political campaigns."

On July 23, 2019, Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle of Wichita filed the paperwork with the Federal Elections Commission necessary to run. She criticized Kobach's employment in his controversial privately financed and constructed scheme to build the southern border wall. Wagle supports the building of a federally designed, bid, and funded wall while saying Kobach's group undermines federal involvement. "We don't need some rogue organization going out and building the wall," she said. In July 2018, Wagle had supported Kobach in the gubernatorial primary, saying, "I am proud to endorse Kris Kobach." The endorsement was unlawfully sent out by Wagle's staff spokeswoman on a state computer, thus violating Kansas ethics rules.

In a March 14, 2019 hearing, Commerce Department Secretary Wilbur Ross was questioned about his conversations regarding the adding of a citizenship question to the 2020 census surveys, which he had with immigration hardliners Kobach, Bannon, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Missouri Democratic Representative Lacy Clay accused Ross of being "complicit" regarding his efforts to weaken minority group voting rights, accusing Ross of committing perjury. He called for Ross to tender his resignation, saying, "You lied to Congress. You misled the American people and you are complicit in the Trump administration's intent to suppress the growing political power of the non-white population." The United States Supreme Court heard arguments on April 23, 2019, regarding appeals of rejections by three circuit courts of the proposed inclusion of the survey question. The court affirmed the appeals, rejecting the question's inclusion, and it was felt Kobach's initial advocacy of the initiative undermined the rationale of the Census Bureau's case.

In the spring of 2019, Kobach presented a 10-point list of conditions that would have to be fulfilled for him to become Trump's "immigration czar." The list included: A West Wing office; “walk in” access to the Oval Office; 24-hour access to a government jet so he could fly to the border on a moment's notice and travel back to Kansas on weekends; an assurance that he would be made Secretary of Homeland Security by November 2019; a guarantee that he would be the administration's primary spokesman on immigration policy; a guarantee that other Cabinet secretaries whose positions relate to immigration would defer to him, with Trump mediating disputes as needed; a seven-person staff; a security detail if necessary; and the title of assistant to the president. Some Trump administration officials were shocked by Kobach's presumptuousness. The position would not require Senate confirmation; Trump, however, was certain Kobach would have difficulty winning Senate confirmation for the position.

In August 2018, ProPublica and The Kansas City Star reported that none of the towns where Kobach helped to enact anti-immigration ordinances over a 13-year period still had those ordinances on the books. The ordinances were costly to defend in court, with some localities going bankrupt. At the same time, Kobach personally profited, earning more than $800,000 on legal work for the localities over a 13-year period, paid both by the localities and an anti-immigration advocacy group.

In late 2018, Kobach joined with other right-wing political operatives, including billionaire Erik Prince, Trump adviser and former Breitbart editor Steve Bannon, Breitbart manager Brandon Darby, former Milwaukee County, Wisconsin black Sheriff David Clarke, former Congressman Tom Tancredo and social media "fake news" scion, Brian Kolfage, to form an organization to raise funds ostensibly to facilitate construction of a barrier. Kolfage, a prodigious Internet fundraiser associated with a long history of dubious schemes using Facebook and GoFundMe to collect both money and potential contacts for exploitation, had raised tens of millions of donated dollars and asserted the organization would raise such private funds to construct hundreds of miles of their proposed border wall on private lands in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. As its prime organizer, in December 2018, Kolfage launched what he represented as an attempt to raise $1 billion via GoFundMe for the wall's construction. Kolfage stated that the target figure was achievable, adding "This won't be easy, but it's our duty as citizens".

In December 2018, he emailed the Washington Post, stating that he started the fundraiser because "political games from both parties" had held back funding for the proposed wall. Within three days, over $9 million had been raised. In January 2019, Kolfage posted a message to the GoFundMe page that he had decided raising money instead through a nonprofit would be more productive. His new 501(c)(4) nonprofit was called We Build The Wall Inc. through which he described his plans to have segments of the wall privately erected through negotiations with U.S. landowners along the border. GoFundMe however issued a statement after Kolfage's statement that it would give refunds unless the donor chose to opt into the change to where the donations would go. Kobach said that 94% of the donors agreed to have their contributions disbursed to the 501(c)4.

On August 1, 2018, Kobach's office was ordered by federal judge Julie A. Robinson to pay $26,000 in attorney fees to the Kansas American Civil Liberties Union for court costs in a proof-of-citizenship case which he lost.

Under Governor Sam Brownback, who left office on January 31, 2018, Kansas endured major fiscal deficits that affected highway funding and school transportation funding. In an effort to critically examine government expenditures, the Associated Press (AP) examined records of all flights taken by top government officials (regardless of which state agency paid for the trip) taken within the 15-month period from January 2015 to March 24, 2016. The Governor of Kansas is required to reimburse the state for personal or political travel, but the AP discovered that Kobach had not reimbursed the state for flights totaling more than 4,350 miles in the state Highway Patrol (KHP) nine-passenger, Raytheon King Air 350. A number of Kobach's trips aboard the state plane seemed to provide no apparent benefits to Kansans, nor were they undertaken in pursuit of official duties. Kobach is alleged to have scheduled negligible state business to coincide with Republican Party functions, taking his family along with him.

As Secretary of State of Kansas, Kobach has implemented some of the strictest voter ID laws in the United States. In September 2016 it was reported he "agreed last month to add nearly 20,000 properly registered voters to the state's rolls only after being threatened with contempt of court." In response to a sufficient citizens petition requesting convening of a grand jury for the purpose of investigating Kobach's actions, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled on August 31, 2018 that a grand jury must be convened. The Brennan Center for Justice describes him as "a key architect behind many of the nation's anti-voter and anti-immigration policies." Kobach has periodically made unsubstantiated claims about the extent of voter fraud in the United States.

In April 2018, Kobach was found to be in contempt of court for failing to follow an order by a federal judge to notify the approximately 18,000 voters whose voting registration was being held up by Kobach that they were fully registered and could vote. Kobach had at the time of the order assured the judge that he would notify these voters via postcard. More than 18 months later, the ACLU noted to the judge that Kobach had yet to do so. Trial hearings had run from March 6 to 19, 2018, with a contempt hearing for Mr. Kobach on March 20.

On April 18, 2018, Julie A. Robinson the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court of Kansas, officially ruled that Kobach was in contempt. He was not fined but was ordered to pay court costs, including more than $26,000 in attorney fees for the American Civil Liberties Union, which sought the contempt ruling and that "any further remedial measures" would be taken upon her ruling on the case. Moriah Day, a spokeswoman for Kobach's campaign for governor, said the secretary of state's office would appeal the decision and would have no other comment. Governor Jeff Coyler, who was competing against Kobach for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, said Kobach should be required to personally pay those fees that had been awarded. The response of the Secretary's office was that Kobach is shielded from any such liability. Kobach did pay a $1,000 fine, per Judge Robinson's order, but he did so with a credit card belonging to a staff member who was detailed to Ukraine with the U.S. military. He accepted a diversion agreement the details of which remain confidential, in response to complaints made over his actions in the citizenship requirements case. In the agreement, he stipulated that he had failed to properly supervise attorneys and support staff.

On October 31, 2018, 6 days before the gubernatorial general election, Kobach appeared on CNN with Anderson Cooper and Jeffrey Toobin. After Cooper mentioned Kobach's efforts to require proof of U.S. citizenship while voting being struck down by a federal judge and leading to Kobach being ordered to attend a legal class, Toobin accused Kobach of having racially motivated intentions with the law, stating Kobach "has devoted his career to stopping black people and poor people from voting," leading to a visibly offended Kobach calling Toobin's charge "an outrageous accusation," to which Toobin responded "Well, it's completely true." Kobach accused Toobin of displaying unsubstantiated claims, stating that "the vast majority of African-Americans approve of photo ID." Toobin called Kobach's voter suppression committee "a preposterous joke" stating that the commission was disbanded because it could not prove high rates of voter fraud in the United States. Toobin accused Kobach of supporting electoral fraud, stating that Kobach's problem was "that some people vote for Democrats, and you want to stop that by establishing voter requirements." Cooper then turned the conversation to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy. The conflict received heavy media attention, and HuffPost stated that Kobach "has cultivated a reputation for voter suppression."

In January 2018, in the Joyner case the Department of Justice disclosed that the White House would not be turning over any state voter data to the Department of Homeland Security, despite the White House's and Kobach's earlier statements to the contrary.

The commission was disbanded by the Trump administration on January 3, 2018 without issuing a report. Richard L. Hasen, an election law expert, described its chairman as "a leader nationally in making irresponsible claims that voter fraud is a major problem in this country."

On August 7, 2018, Kobach defeated incumbent Governor Jeff Colyer in the Republican gubernatorial primary in a tight vote. Kobach finished with a 343-vote margin.

Kelly had benefited from Republican defections. On September 13, 2018, three prominent Republicans endorsed Kelly: Former Governor Bill Graves, former U.S. Senator Sheila Frahm, and former Kansas Senate President Dick Bond. On September 18, they were joined by former U.S. Senator and Republican from Kansas, Nancy Kassebaum, the daughter of ex-Governor Alf Landon, the 1936 Republican presidential nominee. She said: "I'm a Republican, but that doesn't mean you walk lock step always with the party." "...Kobach has developed a record that shows a focus on ways and how to accomplish his end goals that I think are not the best for Kansas." Regarding Kelly, Kassebaum said, "...her experience, 18 years in the Kansas Legislature..., has given her a real understanding of what it takes to work across the aisle." On October 19, Governor Mike Hayden, a Republican who served from 1987 through 1991, also joined Kelly's endorsers who included former Governors Mark Parkinson, a Republican who became a Democrat, Democrats Kathleen Sebelius and John Carlin. Every living former governor of Kansas had endorsed Kelly, except Sam Brownback. Hayden said, "This is a critical year for the state of Kansas. No one can sit on the sidelines in this election." Hayden continued, "I've been a registered Republican for over 50 years. I seldom vote for Democratic candidates, but in this race, I strongly support Laura Kelly." Hayden said that, "after much thought and analyzing," he felt that Orman could not win the governor's race. Former state senator Tim Owens, was the campaign treasurer for independent candidate Orman, but he stepped down on October 30, 2018, then endorsed moderate democrat Laura Kelly in the race. State Senate President and former chair of the American Legislative Exchange Council Susan Wagle enthusiastically endorsed Kobach, though two years later she filed to run against him for the U.S. Senate seat of the retiring Pat Roberts. Wagle had said he was the "strongest candidate," and, "I ask my fellow Republicans to stand with the candidate who best reflects Kansas values."

In 2018, after allegations that appointed incumbent and child abuser, Republican Representative Michael Capps, did not live as required in the electoral district in which he was running, a complaint was submitted by the Democratic party to the board. In 2018, Capps ran for the seat in House District 85, having given his residence address as 3103 North Governeour, Wichita, with a mailing address of 6505 East Central Ave #110. Capps had first filed to run for seat 97, but after Representative Chuck Weber resigned his District 85 seat, Capps said he lived at the Governeour street address, a home which had been scheduled to be sold at auction on June 27, 2018. Democrats complained it was not Capps' true address, but the state Objections Board, composed of Republicans Lieutenant Governor Tracey Mann, Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Kobach, refused to uphold the complaint and allowed Capps to stay on the ballot. Capps received 54% of the vote to 46% for Democrat Monica Marks. When a Wichita Eagle reporter went to the home in the wake of October 2019 accusations about a fabricated attack video made by Capps against Wichita mayoral runoff candidate Brandon Whipple, an unidentified young man living there said he was "house sitting" and hadn't seen Capps, "in a while."

On February 7, 2018, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) issued an "F" rating, its lowest possible rating, for a Missouri-based group called Veterans in Defense of Liberty (VIDOL). The BBB found that the 501(c)(4) organization received less than 6% of $1.4 million in donations solicited for the organization. Over 94% of funds went to American Target Advertising (ATA), a Virginia-based company which mailed solicitations for donations. Kobach, who has no military background, said he joined the group's advisory board because he cares "deeply about veterans and veterans' issues" and would review the organization's financial records to determine whether to sever ties with the group. In July 2019, VIDOL said it had revised its previous IRS 990 form to reflect a much lower percentage of its revenues going to Richard Viguerie's conservative fundraising apparatus, ATA. Seventeen months later, on July 12, 2019, it was reported that despite the VIDOL organization's difficulties, Kobach still remained on its board of directors. The St. Louis Better Business Bureau indicated it did not have sufficient evidence to revive its original "F" rating. Chris Thetford, spokesman for the Bureau, said Magill's group doesn't currently have a revised rating because its IRS form 990 for 2017 wasn't yet publicly available, so the bureau backed its initial consumer warning, one remaining online with a clarification from the advertising firm about the prodigious costs of outsourcing direct mailings. He said if consumers desire to write a check to the organization they should be told that their contributions are not being solicited for a charitable cause. Thetford further said, "The real issue here...It was not conspicuously disclosed to people on their marketing materials that donations were not tax deductible."

Kobach announced in June 2017 that he would run in the 2018 primary for Governor of Kansas against then-Lieutenant Governor Jeff Colyer, who became the Governor in January 2018 following the resignation of Sam Brownback. After narrowly defeating Colyer in the Republican primary by less than 500 votes, Kobach was defeated by Democrat Laura Kelly in the general election.

In 2011, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) compared him to Harold Hill, the central character of the "Music Man," writing: "Like Hill…Kobach comes to town with big ideas and a can-do attitude but leaves behind a trail of tears — huge legal bills and unworkable laws coupled with social turmoil." In an August 2, 2017 sendup, comedian Samantha Bee made the same comparison, in an episode of her "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" television show, singing the Hill/Kobach part herself, with Hamilton's Javier Muñoz appearing as the hectored immigrant.

As of September 2017, Kobach was listed as "Of counsel" by IRLI, the legal arm of FAIR, which is described as a "hate group," by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

In September 2017, Kobach claimed to have proof that voter fraud swung the 2016 Senate race in New Hampshire and may have swung New Hampshire's 2016 presidential vote; fact-checkers and election experts found that Kobach's assertion was false. Kobach claimed that more than 5,000 individuals voted by using out-of-state driving licenses as identification, even though New Hampshire residents are required to update their licenses in order to drive. However, New Hampshire state law allows residents of the state who happen to have out-of-state driving licenses to vote. There are a number of reasons why some voters may use out-of-state driving licenses, with the most likely being that they are out-of-state college students. Numerous legitimate New Hampshire voters said that this was the case with them; they were students at colleges in New Hampshire who had yet to update their driving license. New Hampshire Public Radio also found that most instances of out-of-state driving licenses being used were in college towns. Another reason is that they may be military personnel on active duty. FactCheck.Org described Kobach's claim as "baseless" and "bogus", noting that Kobach "hasn't provided evidence of any illegal voting". Later that September, Kobach backtracked on his claims, but said that there have been "anecdotal reports" about voter fraud.

In 2015, Kobach received from the legislature and the governor the right to prosecute cases of voter fraud, after claiming for four years that Kansas had a massive problem of voter fraud that the local and state prosecutors were not adequately addressing. At that time, he "said he had identified more than 100 possible cases of double voting." Testifying during hearings on the bill, questioned by Rep. John Carmichael, Kobach was unable to cite a single other state that gives its Secretary of State such authority. By February 7, 2017, Kobach had filed nine cases and obtained six convictions. All were regarding cases of double voting; none would have been prevented by voter ID laws. One case was dropped. The other two were still pending. All six convictions involved older citizens, including four white Republican men and one woman, who were unaware that they had done anything wrong.

Kobach directed the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program, which compares state records to find people registered to vote in more than one place. The New York Times credits him with rapidly expanding the reach of the program, referred to as the "Kansas Project," which by 2017 included more than 30 states. According to the New York Times, "The program searches for double registrations using only voters' first and last names and date of birth, and it generates thousands of false matches—John Smith in Kansas can easily be confused with John Smith in Iowa." Due to its tendency to produce false matches, the program could be implemented to suppress the vote and wrongly remove legitimate voters from voter rolls.

In January 2017, Kansas election officials tossed thousands of uncounted provisional ballots cast in November 2016, saying that there was no record that those residents were registered voters. Kobach's office did not compile a count of how many ballots were tossed, but an assessment by the Associated Press and the League of Women Voters of the state's 11 largest counties out of a total of 105 counties, show that at least 8,864 ballots cast were discarded without being counted, slightly more than 1 percent of total votes in those counties.

President Trump issued executive order 13799 establishing the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity on May 11, 2017. White House officials reported that Kobach would be serving as vice-chairman (with Vice President Pence as chairman) of the twelve-member, Republican majority commission, which will "review claims of improper registrations and voting, fraudulent registrations and voter suppression".

In June 2017, a federal magistrate judge, James O'Hara, found that Kobach had made "patently misleading representations" to the court when he claimed he didn't possess the materials sought by the plaintiffs, in the course of the document dispute. Kobach had been photographed with the president with the documents under his arm, and much of the cover page was readable in that photograph. In light of Kobach's "deceptive conduct and lack of candor", he was fined $1,000 by the court and ordered to submit to questioning by the ACLU about the documents.

On July 3, 2017, a complaint was filed with the United States Department of Justice by Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a progressive activist group, to investigate whether Kobach violated the Hatch Act, accusing him of using his position as a federal employee, vice chairman of the Commission, to promote his current campaign for governor of Kansas, and to solicit campaign contributions.

Fellow Commission member Hans von Spakovsky described the efforts of his Heritage Foundation colleague, Kobach, to expose the alleged existence of extensive voter fraud as, "carefully described research". An email sent by Von Spakovsky, the director of the Foundation's Election Law Reform Initiative, on Foundation letterhead, surfaced in September 2017, in which he had also urged United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions to block any Democrats and "moderate Republicans and/or academics," from being appointed to the Commission.

On June 8, 2017, Kobach formally announced his campaign for Governor of Kansas in the 2018 election. In 2017, he was appointed the Vice Chairman and "driving force" behind the President Trump's Commission on Election Integrity, which purported to quantify the extent of voter fraud in the United States, but which critics said was intended to disenfranchise or deter legal voters. The Trump administration dissolved the commission on January 3, 2018.

In October 2017, Kobach wrote a column in Breitbart News which said that immigrants commit a disproportionate share of crimes, and that the United States should limit the amount of immigrants admitted on a yearly basis. According to The Kansas City Star, the claims made in the article have "been debunked by numerous studies over multiple years. In fact, studies have found immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than people born in the U.S." To support his claims, Kobach cited a column by Peter Gemma, who is associated with white supremacist groups and the American Holocaust denial movement.

In June 2017, Kobach advocated for the ending of state tuition funding for illegal immigrants, and called for mass deportations of illegal immigrants. Kobach has also been criticized for saying that he would do nothing, if elected, to insure protections for LGBTQ workers in Kansas.

While speaking on February 20, 2016, to a committee of the Kansas 2nd Congressional District delegates, regarding their challenges of the proof-of-citizenship voting law he championed in 2011, Kobach said: "The ACLU and their fellow communist friends, the League of Women Voters — you can quote me on that, sued".

In February 2016, Kobach endorsed Donald Trump's campaign for the U.S. Presidency, citing his stance on immigration. He proposed a halt to what he said was $23 billion in annual remittances by Mexican nationals illegally living in the U.S. unless Mexico makes a one-time $5–10 billion payment for Trump's proposed wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Kobach supported President Trump's claims that millions of non-citizens voted in the 2016 presidential election. Kobach estimated that 3.2 million non-citizens voted, citing a widely debunked study. Kobach complained that, during one of his appearances, CNN ran text on the screen saying Kobach's claims that millions illegally voted in the 2016 election were "false". CNN also asked him if he had any proof of his allegation that thousands of Massachusetts voters actually had voted in New Hampshire in 2016. He replied that he had none.

An appellate case, No. 16-5196, requesting an injunction by the federal courts to prevent the implementation of revised voter registrations in Kansas, Georgia and Alabama, was argued on September 8, 2016, and decided in favor of the appellants on September 26, 2016. The relief was granted by the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. It prevented the use of the revised forms. The case was the League of Women Voters of the United States, et al., versus Brian Newby, in his capacity as the Executive Director of the United States Election Assistance Commission. On June 18, 2018, a federal judge ruled that proof of citizenship voting requirements were unconstitutional, and ordered Kobach to take six hours of legal education before he could renew his law license.

On February 18, 2016, the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit against Kobach and Kansas Secretary of Revenue Nick Jordan on behalf of Steven Wayne Fish and others alleging that the Documentary Proof of Citizenship requirement of the Kansas Secure and Fair Elections (SAFE) Act violated the National Voter Registration (Motor Voter) Act of 1993. A temporary injunction was issued on May 17, which was upheld by the appellate court in Denver on October 19. On June 23, 2017, Kobach was fined $1,000 for "deliberately attempting to mislead the court" on whether he was complying with the court orders in this case.

Kobach was a member of the Platform Committee of the 2016 Republican National Convention. It was subsequently reported that Kobach was being considered for Secretary of Homeland Security. He was photographed carrying a document into a meeting with Trump the title of which could be read as being, "Department of Homeland Security, Kobach Strategic Plan for First 365 Days". This plan reportedly included a register of Muslims as part of a suite of proposals, which included the "extreme vetting" of immigrants. The New York Times described Kobach as "close to the White House inner circle, including the president and his chief strategist, Steve Bannon", and having told the Associated Press that he met Trump in May 2017 through his son Donald Trump Jr., "with whom he has a mutual friend". He was named vice chairman of the new Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity by Trump in 2017. In June 2017 he told supporters that he has had "the honor of personally advising President Trump, both before the election and after the election, on how to reduce illegal immigration."

In 2016, Kobach said that there are "interesting things" about the question of Obama's citizenship that "just made you scratch your head." Kobach said that Obama's opposition to the Kansas proof of citizenship requirement law was possibly because the president was not a citizen himself: "maybe that's why he doesn't talk about proof of citizenship, because he, you know, he would rather not bring up the citizenship issue."

A 2015 ruling by the United States District Court for the District of Arizona limited the effectiveness of the lone provision of SB 1070 that had been upheld as constitutional. Arpaio lost re-election in 2016. The suit cost the county over $56,000,000 in legal fees and costs. During this litigation, it was revealed that Kobach was paid $300 per hour to train the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office in regard to immigration matters.

In response to a caller on his March 1, 2015 radio show, Kobach agreed that it would not be "a huge jump" for the Obama administration to call for an end to the prosecution of all African-American suspects. The Kansas Democratic Party decried Kobach's comment as "hate speech" and termed it "a new low." Wichita's Oletha Faust-Goudeau, the only African-American woman in the Kansas Senate, called Kobach's comments ridiculous. Kobach said that he stood by his statements declaring, "My point was to bring attention to the Obama Justice Department's position that some civil rights statutes can't be enforced against people of color", Kobach said. "For example, one of the Obama administration's first actions it took in 2009 was to drop the slam-dunk charges against the New Black Panther Party for voter intimidation." One Republican member of the Civil Rights Commission disagreed, however. Abigail Thernstrom, writing in National Review, described the incident as "small potatoes". She warned that exaggerating its importance could hurt conservatives, noting that in 45 years there had only been three successful prosecutions. She said only two "Panthers," one of whom displayed a billy club, had been at a single, majority-black precinct in Philadelphia. After months of hearings, testimony and investigation, no actual evidence was found that any voters were afraid to vote. She continued, "Too much overheated rhetoric filled with insinuations and unsubstantiated charges has been devoted to this case."

On September 2, 2015, representatives of groups most likely to be affected by Kobach's plan to shorten a deadline for tens of thousands of suspended voters to produce proof of citizenship, including the ACLU, the League of Women Voters (LWV), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the National Organization for Women (NOW), all testified in a Topeka hearing conducted by Brian Caskey, a Kobach appointee, against the implementation of Kobach's policy. Although Kobach's office was in the building adjacent to the courthouse, he failed to appear for the rule change hearing and to answer questions. Instead his request was supported by Andrew Howell, a Shawnee county elections official whom Kobach also had appointed.

In October 2015, Kobach spoke at a conference organized by Social Contract Press, an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has designated as a hate group.

In September 2014, Democrat Chad Taylor announced he was withdrawing from that year's U.S. Senate race in Kansas. Kobach ruled that he had improperly filed his withdrawal, and his name had to remain on the ballot. Taylor claimed to have followed the instructions of Assistant Secretary of State Brad Bryant on his filing, which was completed within the appropriate time frame. Citing concurrence from Attorney General Derek Schmidt, Kobach's move was cheered by the Kansas Republican Party. Both Kobach and Schmidt were members of Republican U.S. Senator Pat Roberts' honorary campaign committee. Taylor's attempt to withdraw left the race more open for independent Greg Orman, strengthening his challenge to Sen. Roberts.

On September 18, 2014, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that Taylor's withdrawal was proper and that Kobach had to remove Taylor's name from the ballot.

On October 1, 2014, a panel of three Shawnee County judges ruled that the Kansas Democratic Party was not required by state law to fill the vacancy on the ballot; Kobach ordered the ballots to be printed the next day. Kobach was re-elected in November 2014 over moderate former Republican State Senator and Democratic candidate Jean Kurtis Schodorf by a margin of nearly 19%.

Until 2014, Alaska's Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell had the ultimate responsibility for the conduct of his state's elections. He stated that in 2013, 14 voters had been identified Crosscheck as possibly double voting. His director of elections, Gail Fenumiai disputed the accuracy of that number, stating that a dozen of those were incorrectly identified. Of the remaining two, a subordinate said it appeared only one at the most had done so, and that remaining name had been referred to the Department of Law's criminal division for further investigation. In testimony to Alaska's legislature, Kobach claimed he had found that, between 1997 and 2010, before he took office, 235 voters had cast illegal ballots in Kansas. He subsequently admitted that fewer than 12 had been prosecuted. He said he had successfully urged Treadwell to join the "Kansas Project".

Kentucky's Secretary of State, Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes, said the supposed basis for creation of the commission in the first place — that voter fraud was pervasive and needed to be restrained — was essentially a pretext. She continued, "Kentucky will not aid a commission that is at best a waste of taxpayer money and at worst an effort to legitimize voter suppression efforts across the country". Mississippi's Republican Secretary of State, Delbert Hosemann, said, "They can go jump in the Gulf of Mexico, and Mississippi is a great state to launch from ... Mississippi residents should celebrate Independence Day and our state's right to protect the privacy of our citizens by conducting our own electoral processes."

Democratic state senator Laura Kelly easily won the Democratic nomination. In the general election, she defeated Republican primary winner Kobach and Independent Greg Orman, who had finished second in the 2014 U.S. Senate race against incumbent Republican Pat Roberts.

When asked by ABC News about President Trump's claim that he [Trump] had "won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally," Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway gave Kobach as a source of the claim. Kobach later told reporters in Kansas that, "I think the president-elect is absolutely correct when he says the number of illegal votes cast exceeds the popular-vote margin between him and Hillary Clinton," pointing to a 2014 study led by Jesse Richman, that claimed that "6.4 percent of noncitizens voted in 2008". However, Richman's results, when reviewed by other researchers, were thoroughly rejected. Richman claimed to have found 489 noncitizens within a Harvard survey of 55,400 American adults, called the Cooperative Congressional Election Study. Two years later, three coordinators of the original C.C.E.S. study went back and re-interviewed 19,000 of the respondents, finding only 85 who said they were noncitizens and not one could be matched to a valid voting record. "Thus the best estimate of the percentage of noncitizens who vote is zero", the researchers wrote.

From 2013–2015, more than 36,000 Kansas residents (14% of those trying to register to vote) were placed on a suspense list because they failed to meet the proof of citizenship requirements that had been introduced in a 2013 law. Kobach justified the law, saying that it stopped what he described as the rampant problem of non-citizens voting; Reuters noted that "there is little evidence" of non-citizen voting being a problem. A federal judge ordered Kobach to register more than 18,000 voters kept off the rolls by the proof of citizenship law; in her ruling, she wrote, "The court cannot find that the state's interest in preventing non-citizens from voting in Kansas outweighs the risk of disenfranchising thousands of qualified voters". The judge noted that there was only evidence of three non-citizens in Kansas voting between 2003 and 2013.

The 2012 Republican Party platform included self-deportation as a response to illegal immigration to the United States. Kobach proposed the measure, stating "If you really want to create a job tomorrow, you can remove an illegal alien today."

One of those Kansans prosecuted, Randall Kilian, thought he was expressing his preference about marijuana legalization as it affected his new Colorado retirement property after receiving a mail-in ballot in 2012, when he was 59 years old. He did not want pot growing next to his home, so he marked that issue only, and mailed it in as instructed. The sheriff and county attorney of Ellis County, Kansas, learned of this and questioned Kilian. Both concluded he had not intentionally broken the law and decided not to prosecute. However, when Kobach got prosecutorial authority in such cases, a year later, he reopened the case. Trying to avoid the expense of a trial, Kilian pleaded guilty in 2016 and paid a $2,500 fine.

The program has led to sensational and misleading headlines: for example, 35,750 voters in the 2012 North Carolina general election matched with voters with supposedly identical voters in other states, but upon close investigation only "eight cases of potential double voting were referred to prosecutors and two people were convicted." Doubts over the accuracy of Crosscheck has led some states to withdraw from the program. A 2016 paper by researchers at Stanford, Harvard, Yale and the University of Pennsylvania found that if the program were fully implemented "200 legitimate voters may be impeded from voting for every double vote stopped."

Kobach repeatedly called on President Barack Obama to release his birth certificate and defended those who persisted in claiming that Obama may have been born outside the United States, specifically in Kenya. As Kansas Secretary of State, he requested additional evidence of Obama's birth before he would allow Obama to appear on Kansas ballots for the 2012 presidential election, even after the release of Obama's long-form birth certificate. In 2009, Kobach "joked at a GOP barbecue that Obama and God had something in common because neither has a birth certificate." Kobach responded to criticism of the joke with "Lighten up. It's just a joke... Are they really suggesting it is forbidden to tell jokes about Barack Obama?"

In September 2012, while leading the three-person State Objections Board, and joined by Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt and Kansas Lieutenant Governor Jeff Colyer, Kobach requested additional evidence, including the product of investigations from Mississippi and Arizona, that Obama was born in the United States. Kobach said he did not have enough evidence to determine if Obama could appear on the Kansas ballot for the 2012 presidential election. The New York Times editorialized that the actions of the Kansas authorities "reignited long-running conspiracy theories that the president was not born in the United States." CNN reported that "the Kansas ballot measure is one of several examples of the birther movement's still-persistent presence." At the time, Obama had released his long-form birth certificate but CBS News noted that "so-called "birthers" persist with a variety of arguments that he is ineligible for the presidency. Generally, they claim that the birth certificate as released by the president is a forgery or that he is not eligible for the presidency despite being born in Hawaii." Kobach maintained that the questioning of Obama's citizenship was not frivolous. Later that September, after a complainant dropped his challenge of Obama's eligibility for the Kansas ballot and after Hawaii officials sent a note to Kobach saying that Obama's birth certificate was genuine, Kobach allowed Obama to remain on the ballot and said, "That, for me, settles the issue".

Kobach was the lead attorney defending the city of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, whose ordinances prohibiting employing and renting to illegal immigrants had been struck down by a federal judge in Pennsylvania and again before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. In June 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Third Circuit's decision and remitted the case back to the Third Circuit for reconsideration. Sup. Ct. No 10-722. In July 2013, the Third Circuit concluded again that both the employment and housing provisions of the Hazleton ordinances were preempted by federal immigration law.

As of January 2011, it was estimated that Kobach had received $6.6 million from jurisdictions as he defended their anti-immigration ordinances he had helped to create and/or defend.

However, on April 18, 2011, Governor Brownback signed Kobach's voter ID "SAFE" Act. Its core provisions are as follows:

In 2010, Kobach filed a third similar tuition lawsuit, this time in Nebraska. The case was dismissed in a Nebraska district court in December of that year, for plaintiffs' lack of legal standing.

Kobach was cited as a primary author of Alabama HB 56, passed in 2010, which was described as tougher than Arizona's law. Much of the law was invalidated on appeal at various levels of appeals courts or voluntarily withdrawn or reworded.

On November 2, 2010, Kobach defeated incumbent Democrat Chris Biggs, 59%–37%. Kobach was endorsed by Tennessee's former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson, as well as former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft (his former boss at the Dept. of Justice). Joe Arpaio, Arizona's controversial then-Sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona, campaigned for Kobach as well.

In 2010 press conference, Kobach asserted there could be as many as 2,000 people who were using the identities of dead people to vote in Kansas, mentioning it "certainly seems like a very real possibility" that "Albert K. Brewer" was an example of one such deceased individual who had voted in a recent primary. When The Wichita Eagle followed up on Kobach's assertion, it discovered Brewer, 78 years old, was still alive, although his father, who was born in 1904 and had a different middle initial, had died in 1996.

In 2010, during his candidacy for the Kansas secretary of state, Kobach said Obama could end the controversy over his citizenship by producing a "long-form" birth certificate. In the preceding two years, judges had termed such suits "frivolous." These included U.S. District Judge R. Barclay Surrick of Philadelphia, who had thrown out a lawsuit on the issue, saying it was a waste of the court's time. Kobach said that the certificate released by Obama "doesn't have a doctor's signature on it. ... Look, until a court says otherwise, I'm willing to accept that he's a natural U.S. citizen. But I think it is a fair question: Why just not produce the long-form birth certificate?"

On May 26, 2009, Kobach announced his candidacy for Kansas Secretary of State. His opponents in the Republican primary were Shawnee County Election Commissioner Elizabeth Ensley and J.R. Claeys, former president of the National Association of Government Contractors. Kobach won the Republican nomination with 50.6% of the vote. Ensley and Claeys finished with 27.0% and 22.4%, respectively.

In 2009, records indicated that just seven allegations of voter fraud had been referred for investigation and possible prosecution, and just a single one had been prosecuted since 2004. In 2008, a similar bill was vetoed by then-Governor Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat.

Kobach has litigated numerous lawsuits defending cities and states that adopt laws to discourage illegal immigration. He served as lead lawyer defending the city of Valley Park, Missouri in a federal case concerning an ordinance that requires businesses to use a federal worker verification program known as E-Verify in order to maintain a business license. The ordinance was upheld by Missouri federal judge E. Richard Webber on January 31, 2008 (Gray v. Valley Park, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 7238). The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), representing the plaintiff, appealed the case to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Kobach prevailed on appeal, and the Court allowed the Valley Park ordinance to stand (Gray v. Valley Park, 567 F.3d 976 (8th Cir. 2009)), saying that the ordinance "addresses the employment of illegal aliens, not Hispanics."

Kobach played a significant role in the drafting of Arizona SB 1070, a state law that attracted national attention as the country's broadest and strictest—at the state level—illegal immigration measure, and has assisted in defending the state during the ongoing legal battle over SB 1070's legality. On February 7, 2008, Federal Judge Neil V. Wake ruled against a lawsuit filed by construction contractors and immigrant organizations who sought to halt a state law that imposes severe penalties on employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants. The plaintiffs appealed the ruling, but Arizona prevailed (with Kobach's assistance) in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Chicanos por la Causa v. Arizona, 558 F.3d 856; 2009). The case was further appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States. In June 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on the case Arizona v. United States, upholding the provision requiring immigration status checks during law enforcement stops but striking down three other provisions as violations of the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.

Although Kobach's campaign treasurer, Tom Arpke, possessed campaign experience, losing a state senate race in 2008, winning a Salina City Council seat the next year, and a state House seat in 2010, he was found to have under-reported contributions by $35,000 and nearly $43,000 in expenditures in Kobach's 2010 campaign, resulting in a maximum $5,000 fine. Kobach complained that he was being discriminated against because former Republican Governor Bill Graves received a much smaller fine for similar violations. Kobach alleged, "The only real distinction I can see is that I'm a conservative and he's a moderate." The chair of the Kansas Ethics Commission said "The commission does not condone lack of candor before the commission." Commission members questioned Arpke's honesty, a recurrent theme in his subsequent career. When he obtained convictions of Kansans for interstate voting irregularities in 2016, Kobach said, "The fines are "exactly what I wanted to see in cases like this when I made the case before Kansas Legislature that this authority was needed ... A $5,000 fine is very significant, and hopefully something no one would want to have to pay", he said.

On January 28, 2007, Kobach was elected Chairman of the Kansas Republican Party (GOP), serving until January 2009. Kobach's chairmanship was noted for the broad changes he introduced to election efforts. As Chairman, he raised money for targeted statewide and legislative races and instituted a direct-role policy for the state party in those races. He also pushed the State Committee to create a "loyalty committee", which was charged with sanctioning Republicans who assisted Democratic candidates in contested races.

In December 2007, Kobach sent an email saying, "[T]o date, the Kansas GOP has identified and caged more voters in the last 11 months than the previous two years."

Kobach served as a missionary to Uganda in 2005 and 2006. Previously, he had volunteered to help build a school in a South African township through the Get Ahead Foundation. He served as a Big Brother. He was a national rowing champion (men's pair event, master's division in 1998; men's double event, master's division, 2001, 2002). He is an Eagle Scout.

Kobach began his political career as a member of the City Council of Overland Park, Kansas. He was later the Republican nominee in Kansas's 3rd congressional district in the 2004 election, losing to Democratic incumbent Dennis Moore.

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 undocumented 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 undocumented 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.

In the 2004 election cycle, Kobach was the Republican nominee for Congress in the 3rd District, narrowly besting primary opponent and 2002 party nominee Adam Taff by 207 votes, with state representative Patricia Lightner far behind. He lost to incumbent Dennis Moore, 55%–43%. The victory was the largest of Moore's congressional campaigns. The campaign thrust Kobach onto the national stage, mostly due to his stance on illegal immigration. Kobach advocated for the imposition of a national consumption (sales) tax. He was given a speaking role on the opening day of the 2004 Republican National Convention and used his slot to call for the U.S. military to be sent to the Mexican border to block illegal immigration.

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 (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.

Kobach was married on June 23, 2001 to Heather Mannschreck, a former environmental systems engineer who now has a part-time photography business in addition to homeschooling their five daughters. Kobach, his wife, and their children live on their farm near Lecompton, north of Lawrence, Kansas. Their residence is in a building, the permits for which Kobach originally received lower taxation and permitting fees due to claimed intent for agricultural exemptions, rather than residential use. He stated he intends to build a residential home on the property. When building it, Kobach "closed in" the plumbing and electric work so it was not possible for the building inspector to examine it without tearing up the floor and removing walls that covered wiring. There was no septic system or water source. Despite those difficulties, he was granted permit waivers by the county administration, precipitating public controversy.

Kobach ran for Kansas State Senate in 2000, finishing third out of four Republican primary candidates.

Kobach won a seat on the Overland Park City Council, in April 1999. Following the September 11 attacks, Kobach helped construct a program that mandated that men from 24 predominantly Muslim countries and North Korea be fingerprinted, photographed and questioned at government offices. Of the 83,000 plus men who did so, the government moved to deport 13,740 of them for immigration violations.

At the age of seven, in 1974, Kobach moved to Kansas with his parents and two sisters, and grew up mostly in Topeka where his father owned the Bill Kobach Buick-GMC car dealership.

Kris William Kobach (/ˈ k oʊ b ɑː k / ; born March 26, 1966) is an American politician who served as the 31st Secretary of State of Kansas. He is currently campaigning to replace Pat Roberts in representing Kansas in the United States Senate. A former Chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, Kobach came to national prominence over his hardline anti-immigration views and his involvement in the implementation of high-profile anti-immigration ordinances in various American cities. Kobach is also known for his calls for stronger voter ID laws in the United States, a national registry of Muslims in the United States, and his advocacy for anti-abortion legislation. He has been described as a nationalist. He has made claims about the extent of voter fraud in the United States that studies and fact-checkers have concluded are false or unsubstantiated. Kobach lives with his wife and daughters on a ranch between Lecompton and Lawrence, Kansas. Prior to his career in politics, Kobach worked in law on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals located in Lawrence, Kansas.

Kobach was born in Madison, Wisconsin on March 26, 1966. His family moved to Topeka, Kansas when he was just three 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. 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 an M.A. and D.Phil. in Politics at the University of Oxford, having been granted 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).

Kobach received political contributions from US Immigration Reform Pac, a political action committee (PAC) which was headed by the widow of John Tanton (1934-2019), a white supremacist known for founding numerous exclusionary and "English-Only" groups that were the core of the modern American anti-immigrant movement. It previously gave him $4,000 in his congressional race in 2004, but raised that to $20,000 when he was running for governor. Other groups founded by Tanton included the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) where Kobach worked for ten years. Paul Nachman, whom the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies as a "Montana-based extremist who frequently writes for VDARE, an openly racist blog that serves as a source for white nationalists and antisemites," was another donor. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes VDARE as "an anti-immigration hate website" which "regularly publishes articles by prominent white nationalists, race scientists and anti-Semites", including Steve Sailer, Jared Taylor, J. Philippe Rushton, Samuel T. Francis, and Pat Buchanan.

Kobach was born in Madison, Wisconsin, to Janice Mardell (née Iverson) and William Louis Kobach. His great-grandparents were Bohemian and German on his father's side and Norwegian on his mother's side; they came to Wisconsin in the 1890s, where they were mostly farmers.