Topeka ? The group representing Kansas Highway Patrol troopers is supporting Republican nominee Derek Schmidt in the attorney general’s race.

Two leaders of the Kansas State Troopers Association announced the organization’s endorsement of Schmidt, the state Senate majority leader, during a Statehouse news conference Thursday.

Schmidt is trying to unseat Attorney General Steve Six, a Democrat appointed to the job in January 2008.

The announcement came just hours before a debate in Wichita.

Schmidt also has the endorsement of former Gov. Bill Graves, another Republican.

Six has received the endorsement of the state lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police and unions representing corrections officers, special agents and campus police.