Kansas GOP governor candidate Derek Schmidt selects U.S. Senate staffer as running mate – Kansas Reflector

TOPEKA — Republican gubernatorial candidate Derek Schmidt waited till the submitting deadline Wednesday to announce his choice of a U.S. Senate aide as his working mate within the 2022 marketing campaign.

Schmidt, the state’s legal professional normal, was beneath stress from Kansas GOP hardliners to pick out a distinctly conservative marketing campaign accomplice with a observe document alongside the traces of Sens. Molly Baumgardner, Mike Thompson and Renee Erickson or Reps. Kristey Williams and Ron Ryckman.

Ultimately, Schmidt selected Katie Sawyer, a senior staffer for GOP U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall. Schmidt, in response to a query after submitting, mentioned the 2022 marketing campaign for governor wasn’t concerning the GOP nominee’s linkage to former Gov. Sam Brownback.

“Elections are concerning the future, not concerning the previous,” Schmidt mentioned. “I perceive that we’ve bought some opponents on the opposite facet who wish to relitigate their glory days and discuss issues which can be lengthy since historical past in Kansas. We’re going ahead. I’m assured of 1 factor. We will do higher than Kansas has accomplished the final 4 years.”

Sawyer, 38, has labored for Marshall for the previous six years and owns a farm along with her husband in McPherson County. She served as director of profession providers at McPherson School from 2014 to 2016 and has a background in advertising and journalism.

Schmidt and Sawyer will face Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly, who’s in search of a second time period within the November normal election.

“I’m honored to reply this name to service and humbled that Derek has positioned his confidence in me to assist him get Kansas on observe after years of continuous disappointment from the Kelly administration,” Sawyer mentioned. “Derek Schmidt and I will likely be a governor and lieutenant governor who combat every single day for households like yours and mine to make Kansas the perfect state in America to dwell, work, increase a household, and develop a enterprise.”

Schmidt mentioned Sawyer “brings a brand new technology of younger and energetic management to assist us transfer Kansas ahead to a shiny and higher tomorrow.”

Sawyer graduated in 2006 from Pittsburg State College, the place she studied communication and worldwide research, and earned a grasp’s diploma in strategic communication from Purdue College in 2017.

“She has her finger on the heartbeat of Kansas, and he or she is aware of precisely what they’re speaking about at their kitchen tables,” Marshall mentioned.

Kelly, who’s in search of election to a second time period in November, is campaigning with Lt. Gov. David Toland, who additionally serves as secretary of the Kansas Division of Commerce. Kelly’s working mate in 2018 was Lynn Rogers, whom the governor appointed state treasurer in December 2019. Kelly filed for reelection two weeks in the past.

There was a time when Schmidt’s path to the Republican nomination would have required he defeat former Gov. Jeff Colyer or former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Colyer withdrew from the race for well being causes and Pompeo handed on a marketing campaign for governor.

Schmidt, 54, served within the Kansas Senate from 2001 to 2011, representing a district that included Independence in southeast Kansas. He was elected legal professional normal in 2010 and reelected twice.

In January, former President Donald Trump endorsed Schmidt’s candidacy for governor, declaring Schmidt can be a “common and really smart selection.” Within the 2020 election, Trump carried Kansas with 56.2% of the vote towards Democrat Joe Bide’s 41.5%.

The deadline for statewide candidates in Kansas to file for workplace was midday Wednesday, whereas the deadline for candidates for the Legislature, Congress and the Kansas Board of Training was set for June 10 as a result of courtroom evaluation of redistricting maps. The deadline for voter registration for the Aug. 2 major is July 12.