A Wichita small business owner and educator has filed to run against former Democratic state Rep. Chuck Schmidt in the primary for the House seat now held by a Republican incumbent.
Veronica Gillette announced Thursday that she would challenge Schmidt for House District 88, which covers southeast Wichita and Andover.
Schmidt represented the district in 2021-22 when he was appointed to replace former state Rep. Elizabeth Bishop of Wichita. He lost the 2022 election to Republican Sandy Pickert.
Gillette has spent more than a decade working for the Native American Indian Education Program in the Wichita School District.
She also owns and operates a real estate business focused on helping Wichita residents find and purchase fair, affordable housing.
She serves on the city of Wichita’s D
And she was the chair of the D
“I’m not interested in political infighting or appeasing party leadership,” Gillette said in a statement.
“I’ve built a career around responding to the needs of people around me – from students to my neighbors – and that’s the approach I’ll take when I’m elected.”
Schmidt lost to Pickert by 114 votes two years ago.
The 88th District became about 4.5 percentage points more Republican after election lines were redrawn in 2022. It became about 3.3 percentage points less Democratic.
Schmidt served as superintendent of Independence Schools for 10 years and as superintendent of the Mission Valley Unified School District for four years.
“A Democratic primary in this seat shows how this seat is very winnable by Democrats,” Schmidt said.
“It’s something that we realize that the Republicans are out of touch with what most people think and we need different representation,” he said.
“We’ll have a contest. Whoever wins the primary will take her on.”
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly carried this district in the 2022 governor’s race, winning about 56% of the vote.
Republican Derek Schmidt received about 42% of the vote in the 2022 governor’s race.
About 33% of the district is made up of Republicans, 30% are Democrats and 35% of the voters are unaffiliated.
Pickert raised $14,214 last year and had $6,035 in cash on hand at the end of the year.
Schmidt raised $7,330 last year and had $12,539 in the bank at the end of the year.
