Derek Schmidt
From Ballotpedia
| Derek Schmidt | ||
 | ||
| Attorney General of Kansas | ||
| Incumbent | ||
| In office | ||
| 2010 - Present | ||
| Term ends | ||
| 2014 | ||
| Years in position | 2 | |
| Party | Republican | |
| Leadership | ||
| Kansas Senate Majority Leader | ||
| 2005-2010 | ||
| Prior offices | ||
| Kansas State Senate District 15 | ||
| 2000-2010 | ||
| Education | ||
| Bachelor's | University of Kansas | |
| Master's | University of Leicester | |
| J.D. | Georgetown University Law Center | |
| Personal | ||
| Birthday | January 23, 1968 | |
| Place of birth | Independence, Kansas | |
| Websites | ||
| Office website | ||
Contents |
Education
- Bachelor's degree, University of Kansas in journalism
- Master's degree, University of Leicester in international politics
- Juris Doctorate degree, Georgetown University Law Center
Political career
While in pursuit of his law degree, Schmidt served as an assistant to both the former United States Senator Nancy Kassebaum and Senator Chuck Hagel. Once he graduated, he served in a number of public official positions including as an assistant to the state attorney general and special counsel to the Governor.
State Senate
Committee assignments
Senator Schmidt served on the following legislative committees during his tenure:
- Assessment and Taxation (Vice Chair) [1]
- Confirmation Oversight (Chair)
- Interstate Cooperation (Member)
- Joint Committee on Legislative Coordinating Council (Member)
- Joint Committee on Legislative Post Audit (Member)
- Judiciary (Vice Chair)
- Organization, Calendar and Rules (Vice Chair)
Policy Positions
State Senator Derek Schmidt supported the following issues:
- Increased state funding for education
- Increased eligibility of children for health care
- Nuclear-powered energy
- Tougher punishments for repeat felons
- Legislative spending restraint
He had also sponsored/co-sponsored these pieces of legislations:
- Senate Bill 584 to consolidate the food inspections agencies,
- Senate Bill 531 to increase K-12 educational funding,
- House Sub. for SB 81 to increase child health care,
- Senate Bill 586 to create financial incentives for nuclear power plant expansion,
- House Bill 2707 to create tougher punishments for three-time thieves,
- Senate Sub. for HB 2006 to create incentives for the aviation industry
Attorney General
On September 16, 2009, Schmidt announced his candidacy for the statewide office of attorney general, challenging Democratic incumbent Stephen Six, who was appointed by then-Governor Kathleen Sebelius in 2008. [2] He easily captured the Republican nomination in the state's primary on Tuesday, August 3, 2010, receiving over seventy-six percent of the vote. [3] Three months later, Schmidt's upset of Six in the general election was just one of several major political victories for the State Republican Party that included gaining control of both the governorship and the secretary of state office. [4] He then announced his resignation from the State Senate effective January 10th, 2010; this, in turn, set in motion "the process for selecting a replacement to serve the remaining two years of his current Senate term." [5]
Controversies
KTRM support
The State Senate Majority Leader in 2008 "approved of the donation of thousands of dollars of Senate Republican Leadership PAC money" to the Kansas Traditional Republican Majority (KTRM), "a small but well-funded group of Republicans who support judicial activism, oppose school choice, support tax increases, and are generally liberal on social issues." [6] [7] Additionally, KTRM has often targeted conservative Republicans during heated primary contests, even going so far as to label them as "racists" as they did in August 2008 to former Congressman Jim Ryun and Phill Kline for their association with the Family Research Council Action (FRCA); KTRM had claimed that the group's executive director, Tony Perkins, had "ties to the Ku Klux Klan and other white-supremacist organizations." [8] [9]
Tax increases
Though Schmidt advocated during the course of his attorney general campaign that he had protected state taxpayers throughout his state senatorial career, a local newspaper, The Kansas Free Press, revealed that his argument was not entirely accurate. When the state faced a $300 million budget shortfall in 2002, a coalition of Democrats and moderate Republicans, Senator Schmidt among them, passed a $252 million tax increase that included "a sales tax increase, an inheritance tax increase, a cigarette tax, and an increased franchise tax for businesses, among other things." [10] State legislators who pushed for the tax increase argued that the decision was made in order to prevent massive cuts to education, social services, highways and law enforcement.
Issue positions
Healthcare reform
Not long after the dust had settled following the contentious 2010 midterm election, in which Democrat Stephen Six was removed from office as the state's top attorney, former Republican State Senator Derek Schmidt, who was declared the winner of the contest, announced that he expected "to bring the state into a legal challenge to the new federal health care law soon after taking office." [11] He rebuffed criticism that there was no "legal reason to get involved at all" in the suit, noting that while he expected his office a few thousand dollars on the legal challenge, "the outcome could define the relationship between the states and the federal government for a generation." [12]
Two days after being inaugurated as the state's forty-second attorney general, Schmidt requested that Pam Bondi, the Attorney General of Florida, who was also elected to office for the first time in the 2010 midterm elections, to "file a motion to allow Kansas to join the 20 states that originally brought the lawsuit" against the federal government over the health care reform law. [13]
Other roles
- Trustee, Eastern Kansas Branch of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society
- Member, Independence Chamber of Commerce
- Director, Independence Industries Incorporated
- Advisory Council, Kansas Geological Survey
- Board of Directors, Kansas Legal Services for Prisoners Incorporated
- Director, Kansas State Historical Society
- Trustee, Leadership Kansas
- Community Advisory Committee, Public Television Station KTWU
- Member, Rotary Club of Independence
Campaign contributions
2008
According to Follow the Money, Schmidt raised $119,229 in 2008 for his state senatorial campaign. [14]
Listed below are the top five contributors:
| Donor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Kansas Association of Realtors | $2,000 |
| Kansas Contractors Association | $1,500 |
| WATCO Companies | $1,500 |
| Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Industry | $1,500 |
| Koch Industries | $1,500 |
2010
According to Follow the Money, Schmidt raised $233,352 in 2010 for his state attorney general campaign. [15]
Listed below are the top five contributors:
| Donor | Amount |
|---|---|
| Monsanto | $2,000 |
| John Deere & Co. | $2,000 |
| John D. Pinegar | $2,000 |
| BF & Rojo, LLC | $2,000 |
| Paula Downing | $2,000 |
Elections
2000
| 2000 Race for State Senate, District 15 - General Election [16] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party |  a Derek Schmidt
| 73.4% | |
| Democratic Party | Johnetta C. Shelton | 26.6% | |
| Total Votes | 23,470 | ||
2004
- 2004 Race for State Senate, District 15 - Republican Primary and General Election
- Derek Schmidt ran unopposed in both contests
2008
- 2008 Race for State Senate, District 15 - Republican Primary and General Election [17] [18]
- Derek Schmidt ran unopposed in both contests
2010
- See also: Kansas Attorney General election, 2010
| 2010 Race for Attorney General - Republican Primary [19] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party | a Derek Schmidt
| 76.4% | |
| Republican Party | Ralph DeZago | 23.6% | |
| Total Votes | 273,104 | ||
| 2010 Race for Attorney General - General Election [20] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote Percentage | |
| Republican Party | a Derek Schmidt
| 54.9% | |
| Democratic Party | Stephen Six | 41.9% | |
| Libertarian Party | Dennis Hawver | 3.2% | |
| Total Votes | 834,704 | ||
Contact Information
Capitol Address:
Kansas Attorney General Steve Six
Memorial Hall, 2nd Floor
120 Southwest 10th Street
Topeka, KS 66612
Phone: (785) 296-2215
Toll Free Phone: (888) 428-8436
Fax: (785) 296-6296
E-mail: general@ksag.org
External links
- Official Kansas Attorney General website
- Official Senator Derek Schmidt website
- Kansas Legislature - Sen. Derek Schmidt biography
- Derek Schmidt for Kansas Attorney General Campaign website
- State Senate Campaign contributions: 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008
- Project Vote Smart - Derek Schmidt biography
References
- ↑ Kansas State Senate - List of Standing Committees
- ↑ WIBW "Schmidt Declares For AG's Office" 16 Sept. 2009
- ↑ Legal Newsline "Six has November opponent" 4 Aug. 2010
- ↑ Topeka Capital-Journal "Schmidt ousts Six in AG race" 2 Nov. 2010
- ↑ WIBW "Schmidt Resigns From Kansas Senate" 15 Nov. 2010
- ↑ Kansas Progress "Editorial: Derek Schmidt still needs to answer why he funded attacks on religious conservatives" 23 July, 2009
- ↑ Human Events "Stop Whitey and the Jews" 5 Aug. 2008
- ↑ KC News Watch "Kline and Ryun Unmasked: Linked to Ku Klux Klan, Traditional Republicans Demand Answers" 1 Aug. 2008
- ↑ Red State "The battle for the Kansas Republican Party just got very ugly" 4 Aug. 2008
- ↑ Kansas Free Press "Derek Schmidt Tried to Defund Law Enforcement" 21 May, 2010
- ↑ The Kansas City Star "Incoming Kansas AG sees quick jump into health care reform lawsuit" 16 Nov. 2010
- ↑ The Topeka Capital-Journal "Schmidt: Health case a priority" 16 Nov. 2010
- ↑ KTKA 49 News "Kansas Attorney General Schmidt asks to join lawsuit against health care law" 12 Jan. 2010
- ↑ Follow the Money - Campaign Contributions for Derek Schmidt, 2008
- ↑ Follow the Money - Campaign Contributions for Derek Schmidt, 2010
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State - 2000 General Election Results
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State - 2008 Primary Election Results
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State - 2008 General Election Results
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State - 2010 Primary Election Results
- ↑ Kansas Secretary of State - 2010 General Election Results
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tim Emert | Kansas Senate - District 15 2000–2010 | Succeeded by NA |
| Preceded by Stephen Six | Kansas Attorney General 2010–present | Succeeded by NA |
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