Mike Pompeo jumps in for Derek Schmidt in Kansas governor’s race
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has thrown his support behind Republican Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt in his race to unseat Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
The endorsement comes as no surprise since the only other prominent Republican in the race, former Gov. Jeff Colyer, has dropped out to concentrate on battling prostate cancer.
But Pompeo’s endorsement carries significant weight with supporters of Donald Trump, who plucked Pompeo out of Congress to serve as director of the Central Intelligence Agency and later appointed him as the nation’s top diplomat.
Pompeo has been hitting the fund-raising circuit and is rumored to be considering a presidential bid of his own at some point in the future.
“When you look at (Schmidt’s) record as Attorney General, you see a leader who has always fought for the most vulnerable and always stood up to do the right thing,” Pompeo said in an endorsement statement Wednesday.
Schmidt said in his statement that he was grateful for support from Pompeo, who is arguably the state’s most prominent Republican politician at the moment.
“Mike has made Kansans proud as he served in Congress and far beyond,” Schmidt said.
This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 8:55 AM.
