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Kobach has generated controversy during his tenure as Kansas' Secretary of State over what his critics call attempts at \"voter suppression.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed four different voter suppression cases against Kobach, and in June a federal judge struck down Kansas’ severely restrictive voter registration regime, ruling that Kobach’s documentary proof-of-citizenship law violates the Constitution and the National Voter Registration Act.

The court ordered Kobach to attend several hours of legal training, as a sanction for his \"repeated and flagrant violations of discovery and disclosure rules.\" Kobach has also faced fines for voter suppression.

Whoever prevails on the Republican side in the governor's race will go on to face Kansas state Senator Laura Kelly in the general election. Kelly easily won the Democratic nomination in the gubernatorial race Tuesday, garnering just over 50 percent of the vote in a field that included former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer.

\"PHOTO:
Thad Allton/The Topeka Capital-Journal via AP
PHOTO: State Sen. Laura Kelly, with her running mate Lynn Rogers behind her, speaks after it was announced that she was the winner in the Democratic race for governor at the Ramada Hotel and Convention Center in Topeka, Kansas,Aug. 7, 2018.
>

In a statement released after her victory Tuesday, Democratic Governors Association Chair Gov. Jay Inslee, D-Wa., praised Kelly as a \"serious leader,\" and criticized the Brownback administration, which cut taxes sharply but did not see the subsequent boost in economic growth that was promised.

\"Sen. Kelly has seen firsthand how much damage Sam Brownback did to the state of Kansas, and she will make sure they never make the same reckless mistakes in the future,\" Inslee said, \"She will finally fund Kansas schools, rebuild the state’s infrastructure and get the state’s economy back on track after the Brownback years.\"

According to William Gale, a senior fellow in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution, Kansas' economy \"did not grow faster than neighboring state, the country itself, or even Kansas' own growth in previous year.

The Republican Governors Association told ABC News that they are not commenting on the contest until there is a certified nominee in the race.

ABC News' Lee Harris contributed to this story.

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