Kansas congressional candidate James Thompson, left, U.S Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic congressional candidate from New York, stand together on stage after a rally, Friday, July 20, 2018, in Wichita, Kan. (Jaime Green/The Wichita Eagle via AP)
Kansas congressional candidate James Thompson, left, U.S Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic congressional candidate from New York, stand together on stage after a rally, Friday, July 20, 2018, in Wichita, Kan. (Jaime Green/The Wichita Eagle via AP) Credit: Jaime Green

Topeka, Kansas — Two luminaries in the democratic socialist movement — one its national leader, the other its new star — descended on solidly Republican Kansas on Friday, taking their emboldened liberal message to an unlikely testing ground before next month’s congressional primaries.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who rose to fame following her surprise win in last month’s New York congressional primary, see an opportunity to influence Democratic voters in Kansas ahead of the state’s Aug. 7 primary. They’re especially focused on a crowded congressional primary in the suburbs of Kansas City.

In an election year defined by energized Democratic voters seeking to send President Donald Trump a message, Sanders and Ocasio-Cortez are betting they can stoke the liberal march in places where the left rarely competes.

Looking out into a packed auditorium in Wichita, Sanders said, “people told me Kansas was a Republican state. It sure doesn’t look that way.”

“Whether you live in Vermont or the Bronx or Kansas, you are outraged by a situation in which three people in this country own more wealth than the bottom half of America,” he continued.

Ocasio-Cortez recalled how, in 1861, Kansas chose to be a free state, rather than a slave state.

“That is the crucible and soul of this state,” she said. “Back then, the people of Kansas were the tipping point for the future of this nation and today they are again.”

The trip is unusual on several fronts. For one, Trump won Kansas in 2016 by 20 percentage points, making it seemingly inhospitable for Democrats, much less democratic socialists. Moreover, Sanders is a 76-year-old Jewish senator from Vermont, while Ocasio-Cortez is a 28-year-old Latina from the Bronx who is poised to become the youngest member of Congress.

This political odd couple began their trip in Wichita campaigning for Democrat James Thompson, a civil rights lawyer running in Kansas’ 4th District. He was an activist for Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign.

They’ll hold an evening rally in Kansas City, Kansas, for Brent Welder, a labor lawyer running in a crowded Democratic primary in Kansas’ 3rd District. The district, represented by four-term Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder, is on Democrats’ target list as they aim to seize the GOP-controlled House in November. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton narrowly carried the district in 2016.

While the campaign swing is creating a lot of buzz, Republicans are skeptical it will help Democrats make inroads in a conservative state.

State Rep. Tom Cox, a moderate Kansas City-area Republican, said there are pockets of liberal Democrats in the Kansas City suburbs but questioned whether Sanders’ message will resonate more broadly. He said Democrats tend to be split between liberals and moderates, with some union members and supporters holding conservative views on social issues.