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2009-11-21

2009-11-18

2009-11-05

Agriculture

Lifestyles

Thursday, September 17, 2009 12:10 PM

Schmidt to seek AG job

Senate majority leader currently represents part of Franklin County

By VICKIE MOSS, Herald Public Affairs Editor, and by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cindy Hamilton, Williamsburg, will be one of Derek Schmidt’s biggest supporters in the next year.

Schmidt, a Republican from Indpendence who serves as the Senate majority leader, announced Wedneday he’s running for attorney general next year. He represents the 15th Senate District, which includes southwest Franklin County.

Hamilton long has been a supporter of Schmidt. She has family friends who work in his office and served as a point of contact when the boundary lines of his district were redrawn in 2002 to include part of Franklin County. She even drove a vehicle as Schmidt rode along in the Williamsburg Jayhawker Days parade in June.

“He’s been very supportive of our community,” Hamilton said. “I’ve lived here 34 years and I couldn’t have told told you who my senator was until he came here. He really makes an effort to meet with the community.”

The attorney general run is a change for Schmidt. He had announced about two months ago that he would run for secretary of state. At a meeting with Williamsburg residents July 16, just before that announcement, Schmidt said he was considering his options but wanted to run for a position that would conflict with his family the least.

Hamilton said she knew Schmidt had planned to run for secretary of state and was surprised by the change, but said she thinks he would make a good attorney general.

Schmidt said he has a strong interest in crime issues. He is the second Republican to announce for attorney general. The primary election is August 2010.

In July, Schmidt appointed a treasurer for a campaign for secretary of state, a step that’s required before a candidate can raise money legally. At the time, he said he was serious about becoming the state’s chief elections officer.

But in a statement Wednesday, he said he and his family have wrestled for a year with how he could best contribute to the state. He said he recently saw a story in his hometown newspaper about the seizure of a methamphetamine lab near his home.

‘‘Life’s events sometimes have a way of opening our eyes to the obvious,’’ Schmidt said. ‘‘This is where I can make the greatest difference for our state over the next four years.’’

Democratic Attorney General Steve Six is expected to run next year as well. He’s never campaigned for elective office, having been appointed to the job after a sex scandal forced his predecessor to resign.

Many Republicans had considered Schmidt a potential attorney general candidate for months before his decision to open a campaign for secretary of state. Schmidt, 41, is a former assistant attorney general who has served in the Senate since 2001, the last five years as majority leader.

The other GOP candidate, Ralph DeZago, also a former assistant attorney general, is the city prosecutor in Junction City. His campaign spokesman did not return a telephone message.

Six, a former Douglas County district judge, became attorney general in January 2008, after then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius appointed him to replace Democrat Paul Morrison, who’d won the office in 2006. Morrison resigned after acknowledging an extramarital affair.

Responding to Schmidt’s announcement, Six spokeswoman Ashley Anstaett cited a list of accomplishments, including Six being the first attorney general in more than 30 years to personally prosecute a murder case.

Anstaett added, ‘‘He will continue to focus on keeping Kansans safe, not politics.’’

Schmidt listed a half-dozen examples of anti-crime legislation he’s sponsored as a senator. They include a 2005 law limiting the access of some cold and flu remedies to thwart their use in making meth and tougher penalties for sex offenders.

His announcement leaves two candidates for the GOP nomination to replace Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh, a four-term Republican who’s not running again. They are J.R. Claeys of Salina and Kris Kobach of the Kansas City-area town of Piper.

Claeys is a former chief executive officer of the National Association of Government Contractors. Kobach, a University of Missouri-Kansas City law professor, served two years as Kansas’ Republican Party chairman and ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2004 but is known nationally for his work on immigration issues.

No Democrat has formally announced a candidacy.