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In a blow to the reelection hopes of Republican Sen. Pat Roberts, the Kansas Supreme Court on Thursday struck the name of a Democratic challenger from the November ballot, pitting the embattled incumbent against a well-funded and surging independent candidate.

Democrat Chad Taylor, a district attorney from the Topeka area,exited the race this monthin a move that put independent businessman Greg Orman into a one-on-one race against Roberts. But the state's Republican secretary of state, Kris Kobach, declined Taylor's request to have his name removed from the ballot on technical grounds, prompting court action.

Taylors attorney argued this week that the Democrat complied with the law when he quit the Senate race, citing language Taylor used in a letter announcing hiswithdrawal.

In the court's 10-page ruling, it said the "plain meaning" of the language used by Taylor "effectively declares he is incapable of fulfilling the duties of office if elected."

Democrats accused Kobach of playing partisan politics, hoping to weaken Orman's challenge by keeping Taylor's name on the ballot and potentially splitting the anti-Roberts votes.

Roberts struggled through a difficult primary against a tea party challenger and has suffered from perceptions he had grown detached from the state after more than 30 years in Washington. With some polls showing Roberts in serious trouble, the National Republican Senatorial Committee enlisted a team of staffers this month to travel to Kansas to work on his campaign.

"This is not only a travesty to Kansas voters, but its a travesty to the judicial system and our electoral process," Corry Bliss, Roberts' campaign manager, said in a statement Thursday calling the court one comprised of "liberal activist" judges.

The majority of the justices on the court were appointed by Democratic governors.

In a news conference this week, Kobach told reporters that state law allowed him the right to appoint a replacement for the Democrat, though he did not say if he would do so. Following the ruling Thursday, Kobachsaid he would give the Democratic Party the opportunity to appoint its own successor by Sept. 26- an announcement ignored by party officials, who applauded the ruling.

Democrats now have a clear legal obligation to name a candidate to fill the vacancy on the ballot,said NRSC spokesman Brad Dayspring.

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In blow to GOP, Kansas Supreme Court affirms Democrat's ballot exit