Derek Schmidt, former Kansas AG, launches campaign for Congress promising to 'fight back'

Former Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt is running for Congress, echoing former President Donald Trump’s slogan “make America great again” as he attempts a political comeback following his narrow loss in the 2022 governor’s race.

Schmidt’s campaign for Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District, announced Friday, comes a week after Rep. Jake LaTurner said he wouldn’t seek reelection. The district spans much of eastern Kansas, including Topeka, Leavenworth and northern Wyandotte County.

Schmidt promised to work to secure the border, fight overreach by a federal government that “doesn’t understand or respect our way of life” and stop the federal government from making daily life more expensive and difficult.

“President Biden and the radicals he enables have unleashed a dangerous agenda on our country. Those of us who represent Kansas conservative values need to stand up and fight back,” Schmidt said in a statement.

Schmidt is the third person to publicly declare a candidacy.

Former LaTurner staffer Jeff Kahrs launched his campaign on Thursday. Kahrs was previously a regional director in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the Trump administration and a deputy secretary and chief of staff in the Kansas Department for Children and Families under the Brownback Administration

Shawn Tiffany, a former Kansas Livestock Association president from Herington, has also indicated he will campaign. He wrote on social media that “I am looking forward to earning the right to serve the people of Kansas’s 2nd district!”

Schmidt, who in 2022 lost to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly by roughly 2 points, enters the race with advantages that could deter some would-be candidates. As a recent Republican nominee for governor, he has already built up a degree of name recognition within the district – and the whole state – that most opponents likely can’t match.

Given LaTurner’s relatively late announcement, the compressed primary campaign means candidates without a preexisting broad base of support will potentially struggle to build name ID and raise money. Schmidt enters the race after a long tenure in statewide office and a recent statewide campaign, both of which helped build a political identity across the district.

Schmidt, 56, works as a partner at the law firm Husch Blackwell. He owns property in both Lawrence and Independence in southeast Kansas, where he is registered to vote.

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