Will Kansas AG Derek Schmidt continue to pander to extremist nonsense in his party?
In 2017, I took on then-Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach for his use of the Interstate Registration Voter Crosscheck program — a state-run database that left Kansans vulnerable to serious financial ruin in the event of a breach — and won. I was glad to see Kansas’ financial future no longer at risk, but Crosscheck was only one of many Republican-led attacks on our fundamental American freedom to vote.
Last December, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt signed on to a shameful lawsuit attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. The lawsuit was quickly and rightfully thrown out by the majority-conservative Supreme Court after the state attorneys general failed to provide any evidence of the widespread voter fraud they alleged. This decision cemented Schmidt’s place in Kansas’ history of bad faith politicians weaponizing their power by spreading the myth that our elections are victim to widespread voter fraud only to appease the far-right wing of the party.
When politically expedient, Schmidt abuses his taxpayer-funded office to win the favor of the most extreme and partisan members of his party. But now, as he’s running for governor, Schmidt must make clear where he stands: with the minority of extremists willing to threaten our democracy for their political ambitions, or with the rest of the country who want their voice heard and vote counted?
What’s more concerning: The trend seems only to be growing. Nearly a year after President Joe Biden was certified the winner of the 2020 election and more than nine months into his administration, 138 legislators from 38 states across the country have refused to join the rest of us living in reality by signing onto a letter calling for nationwide, partisan so-called “audits” of the election. They include six Kansas elected officials: state Sens. Mark Steffen and Alicia Straub, and state Reps. Randy Garber, Trevor Jacobs, Tatum Lee and Les Mason — all Republicans. Their attempt to undermine our elections and our democracy is no doubt aided by Schmidt’s selfish actions last year.
While these legislators continue to cry wolf, Kansans have been casting mail-in ballots for decades, and the sudden attack on those votes’ veracity is nothing more than a bad faith attempt to sow doubt in our electoral process. Kansas’ Republican Secretary of State Scott Schwab has time and again refuted claims of widespread voter fraud, and has already conducted an official audit that found the election process in Kansas was nearly flawless. The continued calls for partisan “audits,” especially in a deep-red state like Kansas, are beyond nonsensical.
The rhetoric used by Attorney General Schmidt and other legislators is harmful, and undermines confidence in our democracy. Schmidt is running for the highest office in Kansas. As governor, he’d be expected to make lots of tough decisions, including occasionally bucking party lines to do what’s right. As pressure mounts for officials to pick sides, Kansans deserve to know if this candidate for governor is just another “yes man” politician who puts partisan politics first — no matter the cost to Kansans — or if he has what it takes to denounce the extremism waged by his colleagues.
Derek Schmidt must answer once and for all who he believes won the 2020 presidential election. If he can’t answer that definitively, he has no business running for governor. We’ll be waiting to hear from him.