If you saw someone doing cartwheels this past week on Douglas Avenue, we’re guessing it was a Democrat celebrating the news that former attorney general Kris Kobach has tossed his hat into the ring for Pat Roberts’ Senate seat.

Yes, Kobach is a Republican and, yes, Kansas Democrats haven’t held a U.S. Senate seat since Alf Landon was elected governor in 1932.

But never count a Democrat out when Kobach is in the race. Just ask Laura Kelly. She’s governor and he’s not.

Someone from her party could pull off a similar win this next time around — especially if First District Congressman Roger Marshall decides to run. He and Kobach are both Trump Republicans and quite capable of splitting the primary vote. A friend in Salina describes Marshall as “Tim Huelskamp with table manners.” We can’t imagine either candidate would be especially attractive to moderate Republicans in a general election. Just to make things more interesting, state Senate President Susan Wagle, who kicked the press out of the chamber toward the end of this year’s session, is also a possible candidate.

Expect a long primary season.

On the Democrat side, former U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda and former U.S. attorney Barry Grissom have announced their intentions to seek Roberts’ Senate seat. These are both strong candidates.

A President Obama appointment, Grissom served the District of Kansas from 2010 to 2016, earning a reputation in the areas of civil rights enforcement and community outreach. Our only experience with Boyda came several years ago in Salina. She attended a farm forum organized by former First District Congressman Jerry Moran, a Republican. Farm legislation is complicated and it was apparent the U.S. representative from Manhattan had done her homework to prepare for the meeting. You’ve got to like that in a candidate.

We keep hearing how important the 2020 election is. Actually, every election is important; however, this one may have an edge. Kansas is climbing out of a budget hole that Sam Brownback and his allies — including Kobach and Wagle — helped dig. They would take us back. Do we really want to send a representative to Washington, D.C. who would work to repeat the disastrous “Kansas experiment” at the federal level? Recent tax legislation has already pushed us too far in that direction.

The irony here is that Kobach, if he holds true to form, may have a hand in saving us — simply by clearing the way for a moderate with a grip on reality.