KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt has tapped a staffer for Sen. Roger Marshall to be his running mate in the upcoming gubernatorial election.
Schmidt, the presumptive Republican nominee to challenge Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, announced Wednesday that he has chosen Katie Sawyer of McPherson as his running mate. She would serve as lieutenant governor, if elected.
“Katie Sawyer brings a new generation of young and energetic leadership to help us move Kansas forward to a bright and better tomorrow,” Schmidt said. “Katie’s intellect, values, tenacity, and passion for serving Kansans are what we need to leave our state better than we found it.”
Schmidt and Sawyer, 38, officially filed for election Wednesday in Topeka.
Sawyer has spent nearly six years as “director of all in-state operations and constituent services” for Marshall, who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2016 and the U.S. Senate in 2020.
“I’m honored to answer this call to service and humbled that Derek has placed his confidence in me to help him get Kansas on track after years of continual disappointment from the Kelly administration,” Sawyer said. “Derek Schmidt and I will be a Governor and Lieutenant Governor who fight every day for families like yours and mine to make Kansas the best state in America to live, work, raise a family, and grow a business. I can’t wait to hit the campaign trail and share our positive vision for a brighter future for our state.”
Prior to working for Marshall, Sawyer taught marketing and business development at McPherson College. She also previously served as a reporter at the Pittsburg Morning-Sun and as managing editor at the McPherson Sentinel.
Sawyer and her husband also own and operate a farm in McPherson County.
Marshall called Sawyer “a bright rising superstar” in a statement from the Schmidt campaign announcing her candidacy.
