As the primary race for the 2nd Congressional District starts moving into its closing days, Republican Shawn Tiffany released a new ad criticizing former Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
The new ad criticizes Schmidt for being soft on illegal immigration and losing to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly in the 2022 governor’s race.
The campaign said it’s spending $16,000 on the ad in the Topeka, Joplin and Kansas City markets and plans to increase the buy to $50,000.
Schmidt’s campaign didn’t comment on the ad, but in a recent debate the former attorney general stood by his record on immigration in the face of criticism from his major Republican rivals.
As attorney general, Schmidt pointed out that he persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to side with his appeal of a state Supreme Court decision that overturned identity theft convictions of three men who could not legally work in the country.
Schmidt said he took the case to the U.S. Supreme Court to ensure Kansas could “enforce our laws against illegal immigrants in this country.”
“I have prosecuted people who have come across our border illegally and they have committed terrible, heinous acts against Kansans right here in our community – murders and rapes,” he said in that debate.
Schmidt told the televised debate audience that he had the strongest record on immigration, saying in January 2022 he visited the southern border at the invitation of the Texas governor and attorney general to survey the immigration problem.
In that same debate, Republican candidate Jeff Kahrs criticized Tiffany for coming from an industry – he was president of the state livestock association – that “is very lax when it comes to illegal immigration.”
The only public poll released in the race showed Schmidt with an overwhelming lead, although his GOP rivals took heart in the fact that many were undecided.
The ad comes a week after campaign finance reports were filed showing that Schmidt led his major rivals in fundraising.
Schmidt reported raising $430,157 in a little more than two months. His report showed he started raising money April 26. A campaign spokesperson said Schmidt set a record for most money raised in a quarter by a nonincumbent in Kansas.
Kahrs, a top adviser to outgoing Congressman Jake LaTurner, reported raising $408,477 from April 1 through June 30. However, Kahrs supplemented his campaign with a $300,000 loan on June 21. Schmidt reported no loans.
Tiffany reported raising $272,169 during the quarter ending June 30.
Schmidt went into the final month of the campaign about about $326,000 in the bank.
Kahrs reported having $366,383 in the bank, and Tiffany had $114,837 in cash on hand in his first report and $112,063 in the new report.
