Colonel William A. Phillips

Derek Larkin Schmidt[1] (born January 23, 1968) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Kansas Attorney General from 2011 to 2023. A Republican, Schmidt was first elected to office serving in the Kansas Senate, where he represented the 15th district from 2001 to 2011, and served as Agriculture Committee chairman and Senate majority leader. Schmidt became the state attorney general in 2011, after he defeated incumbent Democrat Stephen Six.

Schmidt was the Republican nominee for governor of Kansas in the 2022 election, which he won the primary but lost to incumbent Democrat Laura Kelly in the general.[2]

Early life and career

Schmidt graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor's degree in 1990, received a master's degree in international politics from the University of Leicester in England, and received his J.D. degree from the Georgetown University Law Center.[3] Schmidt was then a legislative assistant to Republican U.S. Senator Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas, an assistant Kansas attorney general and special counsel to Governor Bill Graves.[4]

Kansas State Senate

Schmidt was elected to the Kansas Senate in 2000.[4] In 2004, Schmidt was elected the Senate majority leader,[4] holding this post through 2010.[5]

During his time in the Kansas Senate, Schmidt sponsored an unsuccessful proposal to repeal the state's ban on for-profit prisons. Schmidt was a supporter of the highly popular Kansas version of Jessica's Law, but "almost single-handedly killed the final bill by demanding inclusion of a provision allowing private prisons in Kansas" as the town of Yates Center, in Schmidt's district, sought to bring a private prison to the town.[6]

According to OpenSecrets, top contributors to Schmidt's campaigns included the Community Bankers Association, AT&T, the Kansas Association of Realtors, the Kansas Optometric Association, Cox Enterprises, Koch Industries, Monsanto, the Kansas Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association, the Associated General Contractors of Kansas, Sunflower Electric Power Corporation, and Sprint.[1]

Kansas Attorney General

Elections

Schmidt was the Republican nominee for Kansas Attorney General, defeating Ralph DeZago in the Republican primary election on August 3, 2010.[7] He won the general election against the incumbent, Democrat Steve Six[8] and took office on January 10, 2011. A key issue in Schmidt's first campaign for attorney general was the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the health care reform law. Six chose not to join 25 other states in challenging the constitutionality of the ACA, while Schmidt pledged to join the lawsuit challenging the law, if elected.[9]

Schmidt won re-election in 2014, defeating Democratic nominee A.J. Kotich, a labor lawyer and former chief attorney for the Kansas Department of Labor.[10]

In 2018, Schmidt defeated Democratic nominee Sarah G. Swain, winning election to a third term.[11]

Coronavirus response

In April 2020, Democratic governor Laura Kelly instituted orders to restrict the rapid spread of COVID-19 that limited public gatherings to a maximum of ten persons. As this would have applied to Easter Sunday celebrations in churches, the Republican-majority Legislative Coordinating Council reversed her order. Republican Schmidt also opposed Kelly's order, contending that it violated the Kansas Constitution and Kansas law.[12] He issued a memo calling the order likely unconstitutional and urged law enforcement not to enforce it.[12] Of the first eleven loci of contagion in Kansas, three had already been traced to religious gatherings.[13] The Kansas Supreme Court reinstated Kelly's orders on April 11, in expedited proceedings.[14] A week later, in a separate case, U.S. District Judge John W. Broomes in Wichita issued a temporary restraining order blocking enforcement of Kelly's order as to two churches (one in Junction City, the other in Dodge City), where the plaintiffs contended that the restriction violated religious freedom and free speech rights.[15][16] That case became moot after Governor Kelly issued a new executive order with less restrictive COVID-19 rules effective on May 4, 2020, under an agreement that allowed the churches to hold larger in-person services but required social distancing.[16] Schmidt and Republican officials acted to countermand the governor's orders concerning wearing masks and social distancing.[17] A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that Kansas counties that had passed mask mandates experienced 500 fewer COVID-19 deaths than would have otherwise been expected in the absence of such restrictions.[18]

Obama administration

Lawsuits challenging Obama administration policies

As attorney general, Schmidt joined with other Republican state attorneys general in challenging federal regulatory actions adopted by the Obama administration that Schmidt contended were illegal federal overreach. Schmidt and his colleagues were successful in blocking many of these regulations, particularly those proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency.[19][20][21] Kansas challenged Obama-era regulations on the oil and gas industry, including a regulation controlling emissions of the greenhouse gas methane;[20] in 2015, Schmidt also joined Kansas in a suit challenging the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan.[21][22] In the latter case, the Supreme Court issued in 2016 a stay of implementation in a 5–4 decision along ideological lines.[21]

One of Schmidt's first acts as state attorney general was to add Kansas as a plaintiff to the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 in Florida v. United States Department of Health and Human Services; in a letter, Schmidt wrote that the ACA's individual mandate would "encroach on the sovereignty of the State of Kansas and on the rights of our citizens."[23][24] The U.S. Supreme Court, in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius (2012), ultimately upheld most of the ACA as constitutional, while striking down a portion of the law which would have required states to implement Medicaid expansion.[25][26][27]

In July 2017, Schmidt joined a group of eight other Republican state attorneys general, led by Ken Paxton of Texas, as well as Idaho Governor Butch Otter, in sending a letter to President Donald Trump saying that they would litigate if Trump did not terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy that had been put into place by the Obama administration. (One of the signatories, Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III, subsequently reversed his position and urged passage of the DREAM Act.)[28][29][30]

Same-sex marriage

Schmidt defended Kansas in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU, seeking to invalidate Kansas's ban on same-sex marriage and its prohibition of allowing same-sex couples to change the names on state drivers' licenses to reflect their married names, receive spousal health benefits, or file joint state tax returns.[31] In 2014, after the chief district judge of Johnson County (the most populous county in the state) ordered the state to issue licenses to same-sex couples, Schmidt filed a petition in the Kansas Supreme Court and obtained a temporary halt to the issuance of licenses to same-sex couples pending a hearing.[32][33] However, in November 2014, a federal district judge ordered the state to allow same-sex couples to marry.[32][34] Schmidt petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to block the order, but the Court denied his request.[34] In 2015, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, Schmidt dropped his Kansas Supreme Court case against same-sex marriage.[33]

Planned Parenthood

In Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri v. Andersen (2018), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit ruled in favor of Planned Parenthood, who challenged the decision of Kansas government officials to terminate Medicaid contracts with the organization. The court of appeals held that "States may not terminate providers from their Medicaid program for any reason they see fit, especially when that reason is unrelated to the provider's competence and the quality of the health care it provides."[35] Schmidt strongly opposed the decision, as well as a similar one made by the Fifth Circuit in the Louisiana case of Gee v. Planned Parenthood of Gulf Coast. Schmidt asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the Tenth Circuit's decision, but in December 2018, the Supreme Court denied his petition for a writ of certiorari.[36][35] The state paid three East Coast law firms $899,000. One of the firms, Consovoy, McCarthy, Park, a Washington D.C. practice which was also representing President Trump in his efforts to prevent the release of his financial records, received $396,000 from Kansas. The firms were charging between $492 per hour to $750 an hour. Average billing rates for Kansas law firms handling such a case would have been $244 hourly.[37]

Marijuana

In 2015, Schmidt asked the Kansas Supreme Court to strike down a ballot measure, approved by voters in Wichita, that created a city ordinance reducing marijuana possession enforcement in the city. The measure specifically reduced the penalty for persons over 21 charged with a first marijuana possession offense (moving it from a Class A criminal misdemeanor to a civil infraction carrying a $50 fine). Schmidt asserted that the voter imitative was barred because it conflicted with uniform state law, a claim that the city disputed.[38] The Kansas Supreme Court struck down the city ordinance in 2016; the court did not address Schmidt's argument that the local law conflicted with state law, but rather based its decision on a technical error, ruling that the petitioners' filing of the proposed ordinance with the city clerk was improper.[39]

In January 2018, Schmidt issued an opinion stating that all forms of marijuana, including cannabidiol (CBD oil) are unlawful in Kansas.[40][41] Later in 2018, the state legislature voted to amend the state-law definition of marijuana to exclude CBD products without THC.[40][42]

In 2019, Schmidt was one of 17 state attorneys general who did not sign onto a letter from 33 state attorneys general in support of U.S. Representative Ed Perlmutter's Secure and Fair Enforcement (SAFE) Banking Act (H.R. 1595), a bill to allow marijuana-related businesses in states and territories in which marijuana is legal to use the banking system. The bill would facilitate the collection of taxes levied on the $8.3 billion industry, reduce the danger of operating cash-only businesses and more effectively monitor the industry.[43]

Election litigation

State Objections Board proceedings about Obama's birth certificate

Despite numerous judges across the U.S. having rejected challenges to the natural-born citizenship of Barack Obama, since before he was elected president in 2008,[44] Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach persistently demanded proof of citizenship before allowing Obama's name to appear on the 2012 Kansas presidential ballot. In September 2012, while leading the three-person State Objections Board, and supported by its other members, Kansas Secretary of State Jeff Colyer and Schmidt, Kobach requested additional evidence that Obama was actually born in Hawaii.[45] In September 2012, the three heard arguments on a claim from a Manhattan, Kansas resident, Joe Montgomery, who claimed that Obama was not eligible to be president because his father was from Kenya and questioned whether the president had a valid birth certificate. As head of the Board, Kobach requested additional evidence that Obama was actually born in Hawaii.[45] The Board asserted that it lacked sufficient evidence to determine whether Obama was eligible to appear on the Kansas ballot as a candidate in 2012 and that they needed to review Obama's birth certificate and other documents from Hawaii, Arizona, and Mississippi before they could respond to the resident's complaint.[46] The challenge, backed by high-profile conspiracist Orly Taitz, was eventually dropped but showed the continuing presence of the "birther" movement.[47] In an editorial, the Wichita Eagle criticized Kobach for entertaining conspiracy theories that "made Kansas look ridiculous" and criticized Colyer and Schmidt for failing to promptly toss the birther challenge.[48]

2014 U.S. Senate race

Schmidt joined forces with Republican Kris Kobach, then-Kansas Secretary of State, in filing a brief in support of a lawsuit seeking to force the Kansas Democratic Party to field a candidate in the 2014 U.S. Senate general election. If the Democrats were forced to field a candidate, it was anticipated to have decreased the chances of independent candidate Greg Orman (who was supported by Democrats) of defeating incumbent Republican Pat Roberts in the 2014 election.[49][50] The suit was unanimously rejected by a three-judge panel of the Kansas District Court in Shawnee County.[50]

State Objections Board proceedings about Michael Capps

Michael Capps filed to run in 2018 for the Kansas House District 97 seat using an address on the south side of Wichita.[51] However, months before the election, Representative Chuck Weber, the incumbent in heavily Republican House District 85, that included part of north Wichita, and also suburbs to the north and northeast withdrew from his re-election run, and gave notice of his resignation, effective July 14, 2018.[51] Then Capps changed his campaign filing, running instead for the District 85 seat, giving a north Wichita address, with a business mailing address of 6505 East Central Avenue, #110.[51] Capps claimed he resided the Governeour street address, though the home was scheduled to be sold at auction on June 27, 2018. Democrats alleged Capps did not actually live at that address. However, the Kansas Objections Board, composed of Republicans Lieutenant Governor Tracey Mann, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach and Schmidt, refused to uphold the complaint.[51] The Sedgwick County Republican Central Committee appointed Capps to fill the remainder of Weber's 85th District term.[51][52] When a Wichita Eagle reporter went to the home in the wake of October 2019 accusations about a fabricated attack video made by Capps against Wichita mayoral runoff candidate Brandon Whipple, an unidentified young man living there said he was "house sitting" and hadn't seen Capps, "in a while."[53] Marc Bennett, District Attorney of Sedgwick County, petitioned to have Capps removed from office after an investigation of child abuse caused him to be decertified and removed as a Court Appointed Special Advocate. Schmidt answered that he did not possess the authority to remove Capps.[54] as Kansas law limits removal of a state House member to four methods: Election defeat, expulsion by a vote of the Kansas House, expiration of the representative's term of office, or recall election. Schmidt noted state law forbids recall elections in the last two hundred days of a representative's term and since the legislature would not meet before the election, it could not expel Capps.[55] In 2020, Capps lost the Republican primary to Patrick Penn, who received 74.4%, 3,349 votes.[56]

Joining challenge to 2020 presidential election results

On December 8, 2020, Ken Paxton, the Republican Texas Attorney General, sued the states of Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania (four swing states won by Joe Biden, who defeated President Donald Trump) seeking to overturn the election results. Schmidt, as well as 15 other Republican state attorneys general, joined Texas's suit, Texas v. Pennsylvania, which was filed directly in the U.S. Supreme Court. The suit, supported by Trump and 120 Republican members of Congress, alleged unconstitutional actions in the four states' presidential ballot tallies and repeated claims of election fraud, that remained unsubstantiated, and which had already been rejected by other state and federal courts.[57][58] In the suit, Paxton asked the Supreme Court to invalidate the states' sixty-two electoral votes, allowing Trump to be declared the winner of a second presidential term.[59][60] Legal experts, as well as attorney generals from the four states, criticized the suit as meritless and politically motivated.[61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69] The Supreme Court quickly rejected the suit in an unsigned opinion on December 11.[70] The Wichita Eagle editorial board criticized Schmidt for having "signed our state's name to an embarrassing and baseless lawsuit aimed at overturning the presidential election" and noted that the amicus brief to which Schmidt signed "expanded voting rules in the four targeted states, even though Kansas employs many of the same procedures."[71]

Biden administration

In March 2021, Schmidt joined 11 other Republican state attorneys general in a lawsuit against the Biden administration, challenging a January 2021 Biden executive order aimed at mitigating climate change and incentivizing green jobs. The order directed federal agencies to consider, in environmental rulemaking, the social cost (economic damages) caused by emissions of greenhouse gases (carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide); revoked the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline; and temporarily prohibited drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Schmidt claimed that the order would be "job-killing" and alleged that Biden lacked the constitutional authority to implement new rules about greenhouse gases.[72][73]

Schmidt also joined 20 other Republican state attorneys general in objecting to voting rights legislation passed by the U.S. House, alleging violations of the U.S. Constitution and an intrusion on states' rights to manage elections. The attorneys general vowed to challenge the bill in court, should it become law.[74][75]

On June 17, in a 7–2 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an attack on Medicare, ruling that the petitioners lacked standing. Schmidt had once again joined in an action brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.[76]

Other

In 2016, Schmidt created a new Fraud and Abuse Litigation Division to prosecute financial crimes and elder abuse.[77]

In 2017, Schmidt's colleagues elected him to serve a one-year term beginning in 2018 as president of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), an office which rotates on a regional basis.[78][79][80]

Schmidt hired Toby Crouse as the Kansas Solicitor General.[81] Crouse left the office after being appointed by Trump to the Kansas federal district court.[82]

Schmidt has given oral argument several times on behalf of the State of Kansas in the United States Supreme Court.[81] Schmidt successfully argued two Supreme Court cases involving the death penalty: Kansas v. Cheever (argued and decided in 2013)[83] and Kansas v. Carr (argued in 2015 and decided in 2016).[84] Schmidt also gave oral argument in the Supreme Court case Kansas v. Garcia (argued 2019 and decided 2020), in which the Court held, 5–4, that the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) does not preempt "Kansas's application of its state identity-theft and fraud statutes to the noncitizens in this case."[85]

Campaign for Kansas governor

In March 2021, Schmidt became the first major Republican candidate to enter the race against incumbent Democrat Laura Kelly for governor of Kansas in the 2022 election cycle. Schmidt named former Kansas Republican Party Chairman Kelly Arnold as his campaign treasurer.[74] A Schmidt-aligned political action committee, Our Way of Life PAC, launched the previous week and announced plans to spend money in a push to unite Republicans around Schmidt.[86] One of Schmidt's opponents in the Republican primary election was former governor Jeff Colyer,[74][86] but Colyer dropped out of the race for the nomination due to ill health in August 2021, and endorsed Schmidt.[87]

Schmidt said he would "welcome" the support of former president Donald Trump in the race and said he felt Trump's agenda "was very good for Kansas."[88] Schmidt was endorsed by Colyer and Trump, and also by former vice-president Mike Pence and former secretary of state Mike Pompeo.[89][90] Several months before Bob Dole died in December 2021, he issued an endorsement of Schmidt for governor, jointly with his fellow former senator Pat Roberts.[91]

Schmidt did not receive the endorsement of three of his former Republican superiors: former governor Bill Graves, former United States Senator Nancy Kassebaum, and former Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall. They all endorsed Kelly in the race, as Graves and Kassebaum had done four years earlier against a different Republican nominee.[92]

Electoral history

Kansas State Senate 15th District Republican Primary Election, 2000[93]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Derek Schmidt 7,002 58.20
Republican Virgil Peck, Jr. 5,029 41.80
Kansas State Senate 15th District General Election, 2000[94]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Derek Schmidt 17,230 73.41
Democratic Johnetta Shelton 6,240 26.59
Republican hold
Kansas State Senate 15th District General Election, 2004[95]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Derek Schmidt (Incumbent) 24,307 100.00
Republican hold
Kansas State Senate 15th District General Election, 2008[96]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Derek Schmidt (Incumbent) 24,259 100.00
Republican hold
Kansas Attorney General Republican Primary Election, 2010[7]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Derek Schmidt 208,611 76.30
Republican Ralph De Zago 64,493 23.60
Kansas Attorney General General Election, 2010[8]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Derek Schmidt 458,497 54.90
Democratic Steve Six (Incumbent) 349,340 41.80
Libertarian Dennis Hawver 26,867 3.20
Republican gain from Democratic
Kansas Attorney General General Election, 2014[97]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Derek Schmidt (Incumbent) 564,766 66.70
Democratic AJ Kotich 281,105 33.20
Republican hold
Kansas Attorney General General Election, 2018[98]
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Derek Schmidt (Incumbent) 599,773 59%
Democratic Sarah G. Swain 410,881 41%
Republican hold
Kansas Governor General Election, 2022[99]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Laura Kelly (Incumbent) 492,209 49%
Republican Derek Schmidt 471,323 47%
Independent Dennis Pyle 20,057 2%
Libertarian Seth Cordell 10,888 1%
Democratic hold

References

  1. ^ a b Derek Larkin Schmidt, OpenSecrets (last accessed September 19, 2020).
  2. ^ "GOP Kansas attorney general launches campaign for governor". AP NEWS. March 9, 2021. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  3. ^ "Hall Center selects state Sen. Derek Schmidt as first Simons Fellow" (Press release). University of Kansas Hall Center for the Humanities. January 26, 2006.
  4. ^ a b c Tim Carpenter, Schmidt ousts Six in AG race, Topeka Capital-Journal (November 2, 2010).
  5. ^ House majority leader elected to Kansas Senate, Morning Sun (November 27, 2010).
  6. ^ Carpenter, Tim. "AG Nominees Tangle on Records" Topeka Capital-Journal. October 21, 2010.
  7. ^ a b "2010 Primary Election Official Vote Totals" (PDF). Kansas Secretary of State's Office. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  8. ^ a b "2010 General Election Results" (PDF). Kansas Secretary of State's Office. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  9. ^ Schmidt's pledge to join ACA challenge bolstered candidacy, Kansas Health Institute News Service (March 26, 2012).
  10. ^ Celia Llopis-Jepsen, A.J. Kotich, labor attorney and former A.G. candidate, dies at 69, Topeka Capital-Journal (October 22, 2015).
  11. ^ Mark Davis, Kansans vote Republican in state offices despite making Democrat Laura Kelly governor, Kansas City Star (November 6, 2018).
  12. ^ a b War over Easter: Kansas lawmakers revoke Gov. Kelly's order limiting church gatherings, Wichita Eagle, Jonathan Shorman, Amy Renee Leiker and Michael Stavola, April 8, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  13. ^ Kansas has 3 church-related COVID-19 clusters, state says amid scramble for supplies, Wichita Eagle, Jonathan Shorman, April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  14. ^ Kansas Supreme Court says executive order banning religious service of more than 10 people stands, KMBC, April 11, 2020. Retrieved April 12, 2020.
  15. ^ John Hanna (April 19, 2020). "Judge doubts Kansas COVID-19 rule, blocks it for 2 churches". Associated Press.
  16. ^ a b Carylynn Stark & Jonathan Shorman, Kansas governor to issue less restrictive coronavirus rules beginning May 4, Kansas City Star (April 25, 2020).
  17. ^ GOP lawmakers repeal Kansas mask mandate, lawsuits expected against local orders, Kansas City Star, Katie Bernard and Jonathan Shorman, April 2, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  18. ^ New research: Kansas counties with mask mandates avoided 500 COVID-19 deaths, Kansas Reflector, Tim Carpenter, June 24, 2021. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  19. ^ Schmidt, Derek (December 5, 2016). "Rein in federal agencies and illegal regulations". Wichita Eagle. Wichita, Kansas. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  20. ^ a b Leblanc, Aileen (August 12, 2016). "Kansas Among States Challenging New EPA Regulations on Oil and Gas Industry". KMUW. Wichita, Kansas. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  21. ^ a b c Hurley, Lawrence; Volcovici, Valerie (February 9, 2016). "U.S. Supreme Court Blocks Obama's Clean Power Plan". Scientific American. New York, NY. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  22. ^ Kansas joins lawsuit against the Clean Power Plan, [Wichita Eagle], August 14, 2015.]
  23. ^ Schmidt, Derek (January 12, 2011). "Full text: Kansas Attorney General Schmidt's letter about health care reform". Kansas City Business Journal. Retrieved February 11, 2011.
  24. ^ Klepper, David (January 12, 2011). "Kansas wants in on health care lawsuit". Kansas City Star. Archived from the original on January 15, 2011.
  25. ^ Warren Richey, How John Roberts upheld health-care law while limiting congressional power, Christian Science Monitor (June 28, 2012).
  26. ^ National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, 567 U.S. 519 (2012).
  27. ^ Rosenbaum, Sara; Westmoreland, Timothy (August 2012). "The Supreme Court's Surprising Decision On The Medicaid Expansion: How Will The Federal Government And States Proceed?". Health Affairs. 31 (8): 1663–1672. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2012.0766. PMID 22869643. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  28. ^ Tennessee's attorney general: I've changed my mind, DACA is good, pass the DREAM Act, Vox.com, Dara Linddara, September 1, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  29. ^ Texas leads 10 states in urging Trump to end Obama-era immigration program, Texas Tribune, Julián Aguilar, June 29, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  30. ^ SPLC denounces letter from 10 Attorneys General seeking "cruel and heartless" repeal of DACA, Southern Poverty Law Center, June 30, 2017.
  31. ^ Preliminary injunction sought in Kansas gay marriage case to force full recognition of marriages, Lawrence Journal World, Peter Hancock, December 8, 2014. Retrieved June 7, 2019.
  32. ^ a b Health Hollingsworth, Judge orders Kansas to let gay couples marry, Associated Press (November 4, 2014).
  33. ^ a b Kansas AG Derek Schmidt dismisses state court case against gay marriage, Associated Press (July 1, 2015).
  34. ^ a b Bryan Lowry, Supreme Court lifts hold on same-sex marriage in Kansas, Wichita Eagle (November 12, 2014).
  35. ^ a b Planned Parenthood of Kansas v. Andersen, 882 F.3d 1205 (10th Cir. 2018), cert. denied, 139 S. Ct. 638 (2018).
  36. ^ Ariane de Vogue, Supreme Court sides with Planned Parenthood in funding fight, CNN (December 10, 2018).
  37. ^ Kansas Paid Outside Law Firms $899,000 In Losing Effort To Defund Planned Parenthood, KMUW, Dan Margolies, May 21, 2019. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  38. ^ Dion Lefler, Kansas AG Asks Supreme Court to Block Voter-Approved Marijuana Measure, Governing (April 10, 2015).
  39. ^ Kelsey Ryan, Kansas Supreme Court strikes down Wichita marijuana initiative (+videos), Witchita Eagle (January 23, 2014).
  40. ^ a b Compound in marijuana now legal in Kansas with caveat, Associated Press (June 9, 2018).
  41. ^ Atty. Gen. Op. No. 2018-05, Kanas Attorney General Derek Schmidt (January 24, 2018).
  42. ^ Atty. Gen. Op. No. 2018-10, Kanas Attorney General Derek Schmidt (August 24, 2018).
  43. ^ Attorneys general from 33 states urge banking reform for pot industry, Associated Press, May 8, 2019. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  44. ^ Around the nation, The Washington Times, October 26, 2008. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
  45. ^ a b "Kan. board delays decision on Obama, ballot". Associated Press. September 13, 2012 – via DeseretNews.com.
  46. ^ "Kansas Republicans: We need to see Obama's birth certificate". CBS News. September 14, 2012.
  47. ^ "Obama to appear on Kansas ballot after 'birther' challenge dropped". CNN. July 15, 2012.
  48. ^ "Editorial: Shame on Kobach". Witchita Eagle. September 19, 2012.
  49. ^ Bryan Lowry, AG Derek Schmidt files brief in support of case to force Democrats to field Senate candidate, Wichita Eagle (September 25, 2014).
  50. ^ a b Dave Helling, Shawnee County District Court panel rules Democrats don't have to put Senate nominee on ballot, Kansas City Star (October 1, 2014).
  51. ^ a b c d e GOP appoints Michael Capps to empty Kansas House seat; Democrats push for grand jury probe, Wichita Eagle, Chance Swaim, July 21, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.
  52. ^ Candidates for the 2018 General (unofficial), Kansas Secretary of State. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  53. ^ Sedgwick County Republican Party calls on GOP Rep. Michael Capps to resign over video, Wichita Eagle, Dion Lefler and Chance Swaim, November 1, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  54. ^ Swaim, Chance: District attorney confirms investigation of CARES Act awards to Wichita officials, December 14, 2020, Wichita Eagle, retrieved November 4, 2022.
  55. ^ Citing state law, Kansas attorney general will not file lawsuit ousting Rep. Michael Capps, Wichita Business Journal, December 1, 2020. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  56. ^ [1], Ballotpedia, Shelby Kellerman. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
  57. ^ Bryan Lowry, Missouri, Kansas sign onto lawsuit seeking to overturn presidential election, Kansas City Star, December 12, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  58. ^ Trump thought courts were key to winning. Judges disagreed, Associated Press, Coleen Long and Ed White, December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  59. ^ "Trump thought courts were key to winning. Judges disagreed". AP NEWS. December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  60. ^ Liptak, Adam (December 8, 2020). "Texas files an audacious suit with the Supreme Court challenging the election results". The New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  61. ^ "17 states, and Trump, join Texas request for Supreme Court to overturn Biden wins in four states". Dallas News. December 9, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  62. ^ Platoff, Emma (December 8, 2020). "In new lawsuit, Texas contests election results in Georgia, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  63. ^ "'Publicity stunt': AGs in battleground states blast Texas counterpart for challenging Biden's win". NBC News. December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  64. ^ Lindell, Chuck. "Ken Paxton asks Supreme Court to block Joe Biden victory in 4 battleground states". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  65. ^ Liptak, Adam (December 8, 2020). "Texas files an audacious suit with the Supreme Court challenging the election results". New York Times. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  66. ^ "List: The 126 House members, 19 states and 2 imaginary states that backed Texas' challenge to Trump defeat". The Mercury News. December 12, 2020. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  67. ^ "Trump and his GOP loyalists seek to pile on Supreme Court election challenge". ABC News. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  68. ^ Phillips, Amber (December 11, 2020). "Why the Texas lawsuit to overturn the 2020 election may be the most outlandish effort yet". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  69. ^ Platoff, Emma (December 10, 2020). "With election lawsuit, Ken Paxton — like Donald Trump — makes a Hail Mary play". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  70. ^ Supreme Court Rejects Texas Suit Seeking to Subvert Election, The New York Times, December 11, 2020. Retrieved December 12, 20202.
  71. ^ Kansas AG who joined a bogus lawsuit to overturn the election is part of the circus, Wichita Eagle (December 11, 2020).
  72. ^ King, Joey Garrison and Ledyard. "12 Republican state attorneys general sue President Biden over climate change order". USA TODAY. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  73. ^ Jeanne Kuang & Katie Bernard (March 8, 2021). "Missouri, Kansas AGs sue Biden administration to stop greenhouse gas regulations". Kansas City Star.
  74. ^ a b c John Hanna (March 9, 2021). "GOP Kansas attorney general launches campaign for governor". Associated Press.
  75. ^ "Kansas AG joins states fighting federal election changes". Country 101.3 KFDI. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
  76. ^ Kansas and Missouri AGs on the losing side as Supreme Court upholds Obamacare — again, Wichita Eagle, Bryan Lowry, June 17, 2021. Retrieved June 18, 2021.
  77. ^ Brown, Zoe. "Derek Schmidt, Scott Schwab propose voter fraud be prosecuted by attorney general, local prosecutors". KCTV Kansas City. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  78. ^ Carpenter, Tim (June 23, 2017). "Kansas Attorney General Schmidt to lead national AG organization". Topeka, KS: Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  79. ^ Gartner, Alec (June 8, 2018). "Trump cabinet member talks consumer protection in Topeka". KSNT. Retrieved June 6, 2019.
  80. ^ National Association of Attorneys General, Ballotpedia. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
  81. ^ a b Kalvis Golde, Three grants and you're out (of coffee). SCOTUSblog (October 5, 2019).
  82. ^ Sarah Motter, AG Schmidt welcomes new Federal District Court Judge, WIBW (November 18, 2020).
  83. ^ "Data". www.oyez.org.
  84. ^ "Info". www.oyez.org.
  85. ^ "Kansas v. Garcia". Oyez.
  86. ^ a b Bahl, Andrew. "Former Gov. Jeff Colyer signals he will launch 2022 bid to reclaim governorship". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  87. ^ Jonathan Shorman & Katie Bernard, Jeff Colyer drops out of Kansas governor’s race following prostate cancer diagnosis, Kansas City Star (August 30, 2021).
  88. ^ Bahl, Andrew. "The governor's race is officially underway. What role will Sam Brownback and Donald Trump play?". The Hutchinson News. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  89. ^ Shorman, Jonathan. “Former Vice President Mike Pence to visit Wichita to campaign for AG Derek Schmidt”, Kansas City Star (Oct 11, 2022).
  90. ^ Sloan, Nick. “In video, Trump endorses Derek Schmidt in Kansas governor’s race”, KCTV (Oct 23, 2022).
  91. ^ Tal Axelrod (July 6, 2021). "Bob Dole, Pat Roberts endorse Kansas AG Derek Schmidt for governor". thehill.
  92. ^ Bahl, Andrew. "Former Republican A.G. Carla Stovall backs Laura Kelly in Kansas governor's race". The Topeka Capitol Journal.
  93. ^ "2000 Kansas Primary Election Results (Kansas Senate)" (XLS). Kansas Secretary of State's Office. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  94. ^ "2000 Kansas Official General Election Results". Kansas Secretary of State's Office. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  95. ^ "2004 Kansas General Election Results (KS Senate)" (XLS). Kansas Secretary of State's Office. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  96. ^ "2008 Official General Results" (PDF). Kansas Secretary of State's Office. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  97. ^ "2014 General Election Official Results" (PDF). Kansas Secretary of State's Office. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  98. ^ "2018 General Election Unofficial Results". Kansas Secretary of State's Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2019. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  99. ^ "Unofficial Kansas Election Results". ent.sos.ks.gov. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved November 13, 2022.

External links

Kansas Senate
Preceded by Majority Leader of the Kansas Senate
2005–2011
Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Attorney General of Kansas
2010, 2014, 2018
Succeeded by
Preceded by
Kris Kobach
Republican nominee for Governor of Kansas
2022
Most recent
Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of Kansas
2011–2023
Succeeded by