After facing an ethics complaint in September for a similar issue, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach once again took more campaign donations than the law allows. His campaign attributed them to coming from married couples.
The most recent campaign finance filing shows Republican Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach’s campaign took more money than legally allowed per person in general campaign donations.
Kobach’s campaign hadn’t returned the extra money to the donors or clarified if they came from married couples, as of Friday.
Kobach’s running for attorney general against Democrat Chris Mann. Mann lost the 2022 race against Kobach by 1.5 percentage points.
State law allows candidates to accept $4,000 from a single donor in the primary and another $4,000 in the general. A donor could donate for both the primary and general during the primary, but not after the primary.
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Kobach’s recent filing, submitted this week, shows a $16,000 donation from Michael Vess of Wichita, who owns an oil and gas company, submitted on Nov. 25, 2026 — a date which hasn’t happened yet.
When asked about the donation and the date of it, a spokeswoman from Kobach’s campaign said the date was an error and that the donation was from a married couple. The maximum legal donation from a couple would be $16,000 total — if they contributed $4,000 separately in both the general and the primary, or $8,000 jointly in the primary and general, or $16,000 before the primary.
Four of Vess’ businesses, of which he’s the registered agent of, donated the legally allowable $4,000 each to Kobach’s campaign. That brings Kobach’s total from Vess and his businesses to $32,000.
Vess is a regular donor to Republican politicians. His office did not respond to the Kansas News Service’s requests for comment by the time of publication.
Other donors in Kobach’s contribution list exceeded the $4,000 limit per one person in the general, too. Kobach’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on if they plan to return those donations.
The campaign’s acceptance of these donations comes a few months after End Citizens United filed an ethics complaint against him for a similar reason. The group is a political action committee aimed at limiting money in politics.
“Kris Kobach wouldn’t know campaign finance law if it hit him in the face,” Tiffany Muller, president of the PAC said in a statement. “At this point, there’s no ambiguity that he is brazenly disregarding the law.”
In September, the PAC called for the Kansas Public Disclosure Commission to investigate Kobach’s campaign finances. The KPDC told the Kansas News Service it can’t confirm or deny whether a complaint exists.
After facing questions about overdonations from his July report, his campaign filed an updated report. The spokeswoman attributed some of those overdonations to coming from married couples, too, and his campaign submitted a few returns.
Mann has said that with more money and momentum this year, he hopes to defeat Kobach. Mann has beaten Kobach in terms of fundraising this election season.
“Despite already having an active campaign ethics complaint, Kris Kobach appears to have continued to violate Kansas campaign finance laws to boost his campaign’s financial standing,” Mann’s campaign spokesperson Leah Rymer said in a statement. “Kansans deserve an Attorney General who follows the law, not one who either fails to understand it or willingly flouts it.”
One of the over-donors from Kobach’s campaign may have been refunded, but while the donation and the refund share the same name they do not share the same address.
Kobach’s campaign finances have faced scrutiny in the past in his long career as a politician.
KCUR’s Sam Zeff contributed to this report.
Grace Hills reports on politics for the Kansas News Service.
The Kansas News Service is a collaboration of KMUW, KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KRPS and High Plains Public Radio.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
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More coverage: Election 2026
Filing shows Kobach again took more donations than Kansas law allows, despite ethics complaint
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