A new Kansas Senate district that pairs northwest Lawrence with east Topeka is set to produce a winner who will be new to elected office.

Democrat Patrick Schmidt and Republican Tyler Wible are vying to represent Senate District 19, which basically was created from scratch as part of the state’s once-per-decade redistricting process. In Lawrence, the district covers the area north of Sixth Street, between Queens Road and Kasold Drive. It also includes the city limits of Lecompton and the rural area surrounding it. A significant amount of the population in the district, though, is in eastern Topeka.

Both Schmidt and Wible are Topeka residents. Both are trying to become first-time elected officials, although Schmidt was the Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in District 2 in 2022, losing to Republican Jake LaTurner.

Schmidt got his biggest win to date in this year’s primary election, when he beat longtime Topeka lawmaker Vic Miller, who was trying to make a move from the Kansas House to the Kansas Senate. Schmidt racked up contributions from about 400 donors from across the state and outspent his opponents in the primary election by more than $100,000, which is a huge sum in a Kansas Senate election.

Wible also had to win a primary race to get to this point. He also beat a more experienced candidate, Lawrence Republican Cynthia Smith, who is a past candidate for the Kansas Statehouse.

Here’s a look at the two candidates.

photo by: Submitted

Patrick Schmidt

Patrick Schmidt

For Schmidt, the events of Jan. 6, when rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol, played a big role in his decision to get into politics. He already had experience as a public servant. He served in the U.S. Navy as an intelligence officer, and currently serves in the U.S. Naval Reserve. But he didn’t think politics was in his future, but then decided he needed to become more involved to “protect our way of life from those who seek to destroy it,” Schmidt told the Journal-World earlier this year.

Schmidt has an undergraduate degree in international relations from Tufts University. He served more than five years of active duty in the U.S. Navy, and currently is a lieutenant in the Naval Reserve.

In response to a questionnaire from the Journal-World, Schmidt stated his position on the following topics:

• He supports expansion of Medicaid in Kansas, a health insurance program available to people in financial need. “It’s time to help hard-working Kansans who slip through the cracks of our healthcare system,” Schmidt said. “They deserve good medical care and it will help build healthy Kansas families and will bolster our economy by having a healthier workforce.”

• Decisions about abortion should be made by individuals, not the government, he said, referencing a 2022 statewide election where the right to abortion was affirmed by voters. “We should listen to the voters who told us they wanted the government out of women’s health care decisions,” Schmidt said. “I will vigorously oppose any effort to ban abortion or erode women’s rights.”

• In describing his largest differences from his opponent, Schmidt highlighted his military service. “I believe my experience in the U.S. Navy helps me understand my role as a state senator and a leader to help guide the state forward,” he said.

photo by: Submitted

Tyler Wible

Tyler Wible

Wible owns his own construction and development company that specializes in the rehabilitation of historic commercial buildings in Topeka and the surrounding area. He deals with a heavy dose of regulations at the state and local levels, which he said gives him a sense of matters that need to be fixed at the Statehouse.

Wible also told the Journal-World earlier this year that being a younger candidate — he’s a 2016 graduate of Topeka High — he will bring a valuable voice to the Legislature because his “experience is based in today’s problems.”

In response to a questionnaire from the Journal-World, Wible stated his position on the following topics:

• He opposes expansion of Medicaid. “Medicaid is a failing system,” he said. “I believe in Medicaid reconstruction not expansion.” He said the program is too expensive for the insurance it provides. He said he would like for government to have less of a role in health insurance. “We need to get government out of Healthcare and ensure an actual free market system where insurance companies have to bring costs down to win your business,” Wible said. “Make insurance actually affordable again and stop lining these company pockets.”

• Wible said he supports the right to an abortion in a few instances. “The Republican party has a lot of trust to earn back on this subject,” he said. “I believe abortion is necessary under protection of the mother, rape cases, and incest cases. All Republicans that I know in the Legislature personally believe this. You will not see legislation that will take away abortion for those three reasons.”

• In describing his largest differences from his opponent, Wible highlighted his connection to the community. “I’ve been here my whole life, I’m active in the community, and I’m the candidate that actually cares,” he said. “My sole reason for running is to protect and give accurate representation for my friends, family, and neighbors. My district is full of people I’ve been lucky enough to be around my whole life. I love and care for my people. You won’t see the same passion I bring into this by my opponent.”