By Kevin Murphy
KANSAS CITY Kan. (Reuters) - The Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Kansas is expected to file a lawsuit on Monday to keep his name off the November ballot, a party leader said on Saturday.
Democrat Chad Taylor, a county prosecutor, filed papers to withdraw from the U.S. Senate race on Wednesday, which could give independent candidate Greg Orman a boost against incumbent Republican Senator Pat Roberts.
However, the Kansas Secretary of State, Republican Kris Kobach, has said Taylor did not follow the rules when he tried to withdraw and ordered him to stay on the ballot, a position Taylor firmly denies.
Taylor's campaign staff has told party officials he is taking legal action to overturn Kobach's decision, Kansas Democratic Party Chairwoman Joan Wagnon said on Saturday.
"He is still collecting affidavits and he will file that lawsuit on Monday," Wagnon said.
Taylor has not responded to messages left at his campaign office and has not said why he seeks to withdraw from the race.
His withdrawal would prevent Taylor and Orman from splitting votes and give a boost to the independent, potentially helping Democrats retain a U.S. Senate majority in November.
Republicans must pick up a handful of seats to control the U.S. Senate and have counted on Roberts holding his position.
Roberts and Orman debated Saturday at the Kansas State Fair, disagreeing over whether Taylor withdrew on his own or at the request of Democratic leaders. Taylor did not attend.
"This is the first time I've ever seen the national Democrats work really hard to get a Democrat off the ballot," Roberts said.
Orman said Democrats did not consult his campaign before Taylor filed the withdrawal papers.
"All I can say is I think our progress at the polls was obviously something he had to take into consideration," he said.
Taylor has trailed Roberts in the polls and in fund-raising and Orman is seen as having a better chance in the conservative state of toppling the incumbent if there is a two-way race.
Roberts received 37 percent, Taylor 32 percent and Orman 20 percent in a SurveyUSA poll for KSN-TV Wichita taken from Aug. 20 to Aug. 23, which had a 4.2 percentage point margin of error.
(Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)