TOPEKA —Republican state Sen. Vicki Schmidt has been elected Kansas insurance commissioner.
The Topeka lawmaker defeated Democrat Nathaniel McLaughlin of Kansas City, Kansas, in Tuesday’s election.
Schmidt is a pharmacist who has served in the Senate since 2005. She is chairwoman of its Public Health and Welfare Committee and has been a key player on health legislation.
She’s also a GOP moderate who has supported expanding the state’s Medicaid health coverage for the poor and disabled following the 2010 federal Affordable Care Act.
McLaughlin is a former regional manager for a health services company and has served as president of the state NAACP chapter. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2016.
Incumbent Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for governor this year.
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Republican incumbent Jake LaTurner has won a full, four-year term as Kansas state treasurer after being appointed last year to the office.
LaTurner prevailed in Tuesday’s election over Democratic state Sen. Marci Francisco of Lawrence.
He was appointed in April 2017 by former Republican Gov. Sam Brownback to replace Republican Ron Estes, who won a special election for the Wichita-area congressional seat formerly held by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Republican state Sen. Vicki Schmidt has been elected Kansas insurance commissioner.
The Topeka lawmaker defeated Democrat Nathaniel McLaughlin of Kansas City, Kansas, in Tuesday’s election.
Schmidt is a pharmacist who has served in the Senate since 2005. She is chairwoman of its Public Health and Welfare Committee and has been a key player on health legislation.
She’s also a GOP moderate who has supported expanding the state’s Medicaid health coverage for the poor and disabled following the 2010 federal Affordable Care Act.
McLaughlin is a former regional manager for a health services company and has served as president of the state NAACP chapter. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 2016.
Incumbent Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for governor this year.
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10:15 p.m.
Republican Derek Schmidt has won a third term as Kansas attorney general.
Schmidt easily defeated Democrat and Lawrence attorney Sarah Swain in Tuesday’s election after the Kansas Democratic Party refused to support her.
The Democratic Party called on Swain to drop out of the race in June because of a poster in her law office showing the superhero Wonder Woman pulling a lasso around a police officer’s neck. Critics said the poster promoted violence against law enforcement officers.
Swain apologized but said it was meant as a metaphor for cross-examination and a zealous defense of clients. She also said she had seen injustices caused by “less-than-honest police officers.”
Schmidt is a former Kansas Senate majority leader who was first elected attorney general in 2010 and re-elected in 2014.
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