Kansas Senate majority leader enters race for attorney general

Drops out of race for secretary of state

? Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt announced Wednesday that he’s running for attorney general next year, dropping a campaign for secretary of state after two months.

The Republican from Independence 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.