Scott Schwab Ks Sos
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4 26 no talk
Scott Joseph Schwab (born July 9, 1972)[1] is an American politician serving as the 32nd Secretary of State of Kansas. He served as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing the 49th district, from 2009 to 2019. He also served as Speaker pro tempore of the Kansas House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019. In November 2018, he was elected Kansas Secretary of State.[2][3] He is a candidate in the 2026 Kansas gubernatorial election.
Early life
In 1994, Schwab earned a Bachelor of Arts from Fort Hays State University.[4] After college, he worked as an agent for the Kansas Farm Bureau until 1999. He worked in the sales field until 2010, and then became the executive vice president of CompDME.[4]
Political career
Kansas House of Representatives
Schwab began serving as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives in June 2003. In 2004, he won the primary in the Republican district with 69.1% of the vote against Shannon Giles.[5]
In 2006, he chose to run in the Republican primary for the 3rd congressional district, a seat held at that time by four-term Democratic incumbent Dennis Moore. Schwab faced banker Chuck Ahner of Overland Park, Thomas Scherer of Merriam and Paul Showen of Shawnee.[6] Ahner won the 3rd District primary with 51.9% to Schwab's 32.5% of the vote. Benjamin B. Hodge won the Republican primary for the District 49 seat with 52.7% of the vote, and succeeded Schwab in the state House.[7]
In 2008, Schwab ran again for his old 49th District seat, was unopposed in the primary, and defeated Democrat Kristi Boone in the general election.[8][9]
Kansas Secretary of State
In 2017, Schwab announced that he would be a candidate for Kansas Secretary of State in the 2018 election. He said he was not interested in rolling back voting standards supported by then-incumbent Secretary of State Kris Kobach and that his experience as House Speaker pro tem and as chair of the elections and insurance committees qualified him for the position.[10]
During his tenure as Secretary of State, Schwab maintained that there was no issue with voter fraud or election security in the state of Kansas, a position at odds with that of the U.S. president, the then 45th, Donald Trump. Schwab rejected conspiracy theories and distrust of elections from within the Republican Party after the 2020 election.[11] Schwab filed to run for reelection in 2022[12] and won the GOP nomination,[13] defeating a primary challenge from former Johnson County commissioner Mike Brown by 55% to 45%.[14] He won re-election that November, defeating Democratic nominee Jeanna Repass.[15]
2026 Kansas gubernatorial campaign
Main article: 2026 Kansas gubernatorial election
Schwab is a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2026 gubernatorial election in Kansas.[11]
Personal life
Schwab's 10-year-old son, Caleb, died after being decapitated on August 7, 2016 in an accident on the Verrückt water slide at the Schlitterbahn Kansas City waterpark.[16][17]
The family received a reported $20 million settlement.[18]
In March 2018, Schlitterbahn and three current or former employees were indicted by the Kansas Attorney General on charges related to Caleb's death.[19][20] The charges against the defendants were dismissed due to prosecutorial misconduct with the grand jury.[21] After the death of his son, Schwab supported additional government regulations on the inspection of water parks.[22][23] Schwab and his wife, Michele, have three surviving children.
In March 2025, Schwab announced that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer and would be undergoing treatment.[24]
References
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Kansas Secretary of State | About | Schwab Biography
Scott Schwab grew up in Great Bend, Kansas and graduated from Fort Hays State University.
First elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 2002, Schwab worked to bring local control and funding to Kansas schools while also supporting free enterprise to strengthen the economy. As Chairman of the House Elections Committee, Schwab championed several bills to safeguard Kansas elections and the voting process. Schwab also served as Chairman of the House Financial Institutions Committee, and Vice Chair of the Taxation Committee and the Committee on Commerce and Labor. Schwab was also elected to serve as Speaker Pro Tempore of the Kansas House of Representatives.
In 2018, Schwab was elected to his first term as Kansas Secretary of State and was re-elected in 2022. As Secretary of State, Schwab has placed priority on providing support and guidance to county election officials; improving the Office business filing system; implementing cutting-edge IT security; and ensuring Kansas remains a leading state in the nation for election integrity and that one vote equals one person. During his tenure as Secretary, Schwab served as President of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) and was selected a Rodel Fellow.
Scott and his wife, Michele, reside in Overland Park with their children.
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Bob Christie, Associated Press
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Kansas' secretary of state defeats election conspiracy promoter
Politics Aug 3, 2022 12:53 AM EDT
PHOENIX (AP) — The top state elections official in Kansas beat back a far-right challenger who promoted conspiracy theories in one of several primaries Tuesday featuring candidates for secretary of state who have expressed skepticism of elections or promoted lies about the 2020 presidential election.
Kansas had no significant problems with its 2020 elections and former President Donald Trump carried the state handily. Yet Secretary of State Scott Schwab found himself on sometimes tricky ground politically because many Republicans have embraced Trump's baseless claims that massive fraud cost him the race nationally.
FOLLOW LIVE: 2022 Kansas Primary Election Results
Schwab has repeatedly vouched for the safety of Kansas elections and touted new GOP-pushed laws, including ones that restrict the delivery of ballots by third parties. He's also said he can't vouch for other states' elections.
The message worked well for him in his primary against Mike Brown, a construction contractor and former county commissioner in the Kansas City area. Brown embraced election conspiracy theories and promised to rid the state of ballot drop boxes.
In November, Schwab will face Democrat Jenna Repass, who was unopposed in her party's primary.
The Kansas race was one of three races for secretary of state Tuesday in which primary voters were deciding whether to elevate election skeptics. Arizona's Republican primary features two candidates who repeat Trump's false claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 presidential election. Voters in Washington state were choosing from a mix of Democrats, Republicans and unaffiliated candidates in that state's top-two primary.
The GOP primary elections for secretary of state are the latest this year to feature candidates who doubt the security of their states' elections despite the lack of evidence of any problems widespread enough to change the results. Republican voters elsewhere have split on sending those candidates to the November ballot.
A secretary of state primary in Washington includes several Republican and unaffiliated candidates, including one who has made voter fraud claims without evidence. Washington state has a primary system in which the top two vote-getters make it to the general election regardless of party affiliation.
The Democratic candidates in all three states reject the premise of a stolen 2020 presidential election and warn that victories in November by any of those who promote conspiracies would endanger free and fair elections. In all three states, the secretary of state is the top election official.
READ MORE: Kansas voters protect abortion rights, blocking Republican push for ban
In Arizona, a major battleground for president and the U.S. Senate, two of the four GOP candidates contend the election was stolen from Trump and plan to push major changes if they win the primary and the November general election.
They include state Rep. Mark Finchem, who attended Trump's Jan. 6, 2021, rally that led to the attack on the U.S. Capitol. He tried this year to get the Republican-controlled Legislature to notify Congress that Arizona wanted to decertify Democrat Joe Biden's election win.
The other Republican backing Trump's claims also is a member of the Arizona House. Rep. Shawnna Bolick introduced a bill last year that would allow a simple majority of the Legislature to overturn presidential election results. Republicans control the Legislature in Arizona.
Two other Republican candidates are on Arizona's ballot: state Sen. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, who acknowledges Biden's victory but has worked for a decade to tighten election laws, and businessman Beau Lane, who is backed by GOP Gov. Doug Ducey.
Finchem is endorsed by Trump and said in a recent interview that worries about the effect of his potential victory on free and fair elections are unfounded. He said he will just enforce laws as written.
"I think it's interesting that there are people, particularly Democrats out there, claiming, 'Oh, he's going to ruin the system. He's going to do this, he's a threat to democracy,'" Finchem said. Still, he contends tens of thousands of fake ballots led to Biden's win, a claim for which there is no credible evidence.
Two Democrats, House Minority Leader Reginald Bolding and former Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes, are seeking their party's nomination.
Washington state's top-two primary features the incumbent, Democratic Secretary of State Steve Hobbs. He was appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee last November and hopes to retain his seat for the remaining two years of former Republican Secretary of State Kim Wyman's four-year term.
Hobbs faces several Republican and unaffiliated challengers, including Tamborine Borrelli, an "America First" candidate who was fined by the state Supreme Court earlier this summer for making meritless claims alleging widespread voter fraud.
Hobbs and Pierce County Auditor Julie Anderson, who is running as a nonpartisan and said she is the most experienced in running elections, have raised the most money. Republicans in the race include former state Sen. Mark Miloscia and current Sen. Keith Wagoner.
Under Washington's primary system, the top two vote-getters advance to the general election in November, regardless of party. Results will likely take days to tally because it's an all-mail election.
Associated Press writers John Hanna in Topeka, Kansas, and Rachel La Corte in Olympia, Washington, contributed to this report.
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[Director of State Advocacy Heritage Action for America
Jan 2022 - May 2025 · 3 yrs 5 mos](https://www.linkedin.com/company/1051076/)
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Heritage Action Announces Longtime Political Strategist to Head…
WASHINGTON — Today, Heritage Action, a conservative organization with two million grassroots activists nationwide, released a statement from Executive Director Jessica Anderson announcing Catherine Gunsalus to lead the organization’s expanded state...](https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherinegunsalus/overlay/Position/1898250254/treasury/?profileId=ACoAABGdbp4BOIT03W0y2O5lrUvdBPdIC11tP9A)
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[Assistant Secretary of State Kansas Secretary of State
Jan 2019 - Jan 2022 · 3 yrs 1 mo
Topeka, Kansas](https://www.linkedin.com/company/83110/)
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GEM AI
The Kansas Secretary of State from 2019 to 2022 was Scott Schwab.
A Republican and former Speaker Pro Tempore of the Kansas House of Representatives, Schwab was first elected to the position in November 2018. He assumed office on January 14, 2019, succeeding Kris Kobach.
Key Details of His Tenure (2019–2022):
- Re-election: He was re-elected to a second term in November 2022.
- Leadership: During this period, he focused on election integrity, guidance for county election officials, and modernizing the office's business filing and IT systems.
- National Role: He served as the President of the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS).
According to his official biography, he continues to serve as the 32nd Secretary of State of Kansas today.
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Chief of Staff
Office of the Speaker Pro Tem, Kansas House of Representatives
Jun 2014 - Jan 2019 · 4 yrs 8 mos
Topeka, KS
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Campaign Manager
Schwab for Secretary of State
Aug 2017 - Nov 2018 · 1 yr 4 mos
Kansas - statewide
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