Independent candidate Greg Orman isn’t saying which party he would caucus with if he wins election to the U.S. Senate in Kansas, but he has now hired a veteran Democratic aide to serve as a spokesman.
Orman’s addition of former Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee aide Mike Phillips to his campaign team has Republicans claiming the candidate is showing his true colors.
Orman is surging in his campaign against incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts. Democrats recently convinced their nominee to drop out of the race in hopes of Orman being able to defeat Roberts. Polls show a close race.
Phillips, who has been quoted in stories as Orman’s spokesman, has worked for Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado and Chris Murphy of Connecticut. He also served on the 2008 presidential campaign of former Democratic Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd.
Republican campaign operatives on Monday drew attention to Phillips’ hiring:
Congrats to top-notch Democratic, DSCC operative @mikephillips1 on his new role as spox for D̶e̶m̶o̶c̶r̶a̶t̶, “Independent” Greg Orman.
— Tim Miller (@Timodc) September 22, 2014
Phillips responded by noting that the campaign has hired a Republican operative too:
@Timodc Thanks Tim, excited to be here working alongside my friend @samedelen, GOP spox for Wamp etc. Great, bi-partisan team here.
— mike phillips (@mikephillips1) September 22, 2014
All eyes are on Orman because of the power he could wield if control of the Senate comes down to Kansas.
In terms of which party he would caucus with, Orman says on his website: “If I’m elected, there’s a reasonable chance that neither party would have a majority in the US Senate. If that is the case, I will work with the other independent Senators to caucus with the party that is most willing to face our country’s difficult problems head on and advance our problem-solving, non-partisan agenda.”