Rep. Derek Schmidt is heading back to the general-election battlefield after Kansas Republicans kept him on the November ballot Tuesday night, rejecting challenger Chad Young in the 2nd Congressional District primary. The win preserves Schmidt's bid for a second term in a district covering much of eastern Kansas outside the Kansas City suburbs.
KCTV5 reported that the Associated Press called the race for Schmidt over Young. He will face Democrat Don Coover and Libertarian John Hauer in November, giving voters a three-way general-election field after the incumbent cleared the contested Republican primary.
Schmidt Keeps Hold of Republican Line
Schmidt is not new to Kansas politics: Before winning the House seat in 2024, he spent a decade in the Kansas Senate and 12 years as state attorney general. KCUR's candidate guide described Young as a strong anti-government challenger and said Schmidt was running as a Republican aligned with President Donald Trump.
The district has not been held by a Democrat since Nancy Boyda lost reelection in 2008, according to that guide, while Schmidt carried it by nearly 19 percentage points in 2024. Schmidt also entered Tuesday with a sizable financial edge, having raised nearly $1 million from January 2025 through March 2026, compared with about $517,000 for Coover; Young and Hauer did not take donations.
Schmidt's official House biography says he has represented Kansas' 2nd District since January 3, 2025, after winning the open seat in 2024. The primary result gives the former attorney general a clear runway into the fall campaign, with the November vote ahead.
