Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) announced Saturday that he will run for Senate in 2010, setting up a primary showdown with fellow GOP Rep. Jerry Moran in the race to succeed retiring Sen. Sam Brownback (R). “As I travel across Kansas listening and sharing my vision for a more prosperous state, I have been encouraged to take my leadership to the United States Senate in 2010,” Tiahrt said according to a statement from his campaign. Moran announced his Senate candidacy last year, and just this week his campaign released an internal poll that showed him with a 41 percent to 25 percent lead over Tiahrt in the primary. Republicans’ chances of holding the seat rest largely on whether Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) enters the race. Sebelius is popular, and she would enter the race as the early favorite, despite the state’s conservative underpinnings. If Sebelius declines to run, the GOP will be heavily favored to hold the seat.