Patrick Schmidt

Patrick Schmidt was born in Overland Park, Kansas. He served in the U.S. Navy. Schmidt earned a bachelor's degree from Tufts University in 2013. His career experience includes working as a military officer.[1]

Patrick Schmidt did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2026 Candidate Connection survey.

Patrick Schmidt did not complete [the profile publisher]'s 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Patrick Schmidt is a sixth generation Kansan, son of two elementary school teachers, and a Lieutenant in the US Naval Reserves. After commissioning as an Intelligence Officer, Patrick served four and half years on active duty. He deployed as a Fleet Intelligence Watch Officer onboard the USS RONALD REAGAN and as a targeting analyst with Joint Special Operations Task Force Arabian Peninsula. While stationed in Washington D.C. at the Office of Naval Intelligence Patrick witnessed the January 6 attack on the Capitol. He is running to provide hard-working Kansans leadership in Washington that will honor their oath to support and defend the Constitution.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

If elected, I will work to lower healthcare costs through expanding Medicaid in Kansas and extending care to 150,000 people statewide. I will also stand up to the pharmaceutical lobby, which has jacked up the price of common drugs like insulin to the point where people have to ration their supply to survive.As your Representative, you have my word that I will only support policies that will revitalize small businesses and the working class – not the rich and powerful.I know that transitioning away from active duty can be challenging. That is why I will work to make sure that if you receive training for a skill in the military, it will transition over to civilian life – allowing our veterans to qualify for work that will support their families.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Health care

I believe wholeheartedly that every American deserves access to affordable health care. When I was growing up, my dad – a public school teacher – fought a twenty-year battle against heart disease and COPD. He often made tough choices between his family and illness, foregoing necessary treatment or prescription drugs because we could not afford them or choosing to provide for my brother and me instead. Forcing people who have spent their lives serving others to make those choices is unacceptable in the wealthiest country in the world but all too common among working families.

Campaign website

Schmidt's campaign website stated the following:

Affordable Health Care

I believe wholeheartedly that every American deserves access to affordable health care. When I was growing up, my dad – a public school teacher – fought a twenty-year battle against heart disease and COPD. He often made tough choices between his family and illness, foregoing necessary treatment or prescription drugs because we could not afford them or choosing to provide for my brother and me instead. Forcing people who have spent their lives serving others to make those choices is unacceptable in the wealthiest country in the world but all too common among working families.

If elected, I will work to lower healthcare costs through expanding Medicaid in Kansas and extending care to 150,000 people statewide. I will also stand up to the pharmaceutical lobby, which has jacked up the price of common drugs like insulin to the point where people have to ration their supply to survive. I favor legislation that would lower prescription drug costs for millions, like the Lower Drug Costs Now Act. Additionally, I will work to bring more federally qualified health centers to Kansas, which provide quality care while saving taxpayers money.

As your Representative, I will make sure that no one has to choose between providing for their family and life-saving treatments or prescription drugs.

Supporting Our Veterans

Providing for our nation’s armed forces, both veterans and active duty should be a top priority for our leaders. Unfortunately, they are often overlooked. As a Navy veteran, I know firsthand the difficulties our men and women in uniform face. In Congress, I will work to expand and improve our VA care facilities that provide life-saving services throughout Kansas and the country. I will support medical marijuana as a treatment for our veterans who self-medicate with opioids, alcohol, and other dangerous substances. I will fight to enhance the military child tax credit so that our young military families can make ends meet when they are stationed in areas without much economic opportunity. I will push to pass legislation enhancing health care services and disability benefits for many vets exposed to toxic substances in Iraq and Afghanistan. I and I will advocate to allow Tricare dependents to stay on their parent’s policy until they are 26 without a premium increase – just like the children of civilians.

I know that transitioning away from active duty can be challenging. That is why I will work to make sure that if you receive training for a skill in the military, it will transition over to civilian life – allowing our veterans to qualify for work that will support their families. I will never stop fighting to ensure that hardworking military families like mine receive all the benefits they have earned by putting their lives on the line for our country.

Jobs And The Economy

Growing up with two parents that worked multiple jobs to make ends meet, I understand how difficult it is for Kansas families when the price of gas and groceries goes up. But unlike my opponent, who raised taxes and utility rates, canceled infrastructure projects, and slashed tax credits to pay for a tax cut for the Koch brothers – I will fight to make life better for working families like mine.

We used to produce things here in Kansas, not thousands of miles away. Decades ago, we produced close to 40 percent of our semiconductors in the United States. Now, we manufacture only 13 percent. I will work to bring manufacturing capabilities back by supporting legislation like the America COMPETES Act, which would deliver billions for domestic manufacturing and make substantial investments in other critical issues like supply chain resilience. This will create good-paying jobs while also helping to guard against inflation and supply chain disruptions. I will work to end the corporate tax credit for outsourcing good-paying jobs and bring them back home where they belong. America can once again become the manufacturing center of the world.

Kansans remember the results of radical economic policies from Sam Brownback, which my opponent fully supported. As your Representative, you have my word that I will only support policies that will revitalize small businesses and the working class – not the rich and powerful.

Opioids

The nationwide opioid crisis is a national tragedy. Our communities and families are being torn apart, all because of the greed of a few massive pharmaceutical companies. In Congress, I will make sure that those companies, and the families that own them, are held accountable to the full extent of the law. Additionally, we must crack down on foreign drug manufacturers who make synthetic opioids and the drug dealers that push them into the United States.

As your Representative, I will work to increase public resources and addiction service for our first responders and veterans – who frequently struggle with addiction issues due to their service. Curbing opioid use in Kansas will also take creative solutions. Kansas must join the 36 other states that have approved the use of medical marijuana so that those struggling with pain do not have to turn to opioids in the first place. This issue demands action at every level, and Kansans deserve nothing less.

Seniors

Growing up, I watched my grandmother live paycheck to paycheck on social security for 30 years after my grandfather died. I understand the importance of the integrity of life for our nation’s elderly. That is why I will fight to make sure we never have to raise the retirement age and that Social Security always keeps up with inflation. And you can be sure that I will oppose any efforts by Republicans to cut or privatize Social Security and Medicare.

Taking care of our seniors by strengthening Medicare and Social Security will be one of my top priorities in Congress. Talking with Kansans, I have heard stories from those who had to sell their homes to receive care. This is unconscionable. We must ensure that our seniors receive care with dignity and not have to enter extreme poverty to qualify for assistance to afford long-term care.

With costs only increasing, we cannot afford to wait. In Congress, I will support legislation allowing Medicare to negotiate directly with drug companies – just as the VA already does – so that seniors are not should not have to decide between covering their overpriced medications and their rent. As they get older, every American deserves economic security, and our seniors have earned their benefits. If elected, I will fight to make sure they are protected.

Agriculture

Agriculture policy in Kansas is hurting small farms in favor of larger and larger ones. Monopolies are destroying competition in seed and fertilizer markets and holding farmers hostage to higher input costs. Large meatpackers use their monopolies to make more profits on market animals than the producers who raise them. We need to enforce the antitrust provisions in existing laws to ensure exorbitant input costs do not crush farmers and livestock producers are not held hostage to take whatever price packers choose. Our food supply is the safest and most abundant globally, and we must secure it from bad actors that threaten the future of family farms.

Unions & The Middle Class

Strong unions built the middle class and created a healthy economy in Kansas. But for decades, membership has declined after attacks from a wealthy and powerful elite. As a result, good-paying jobs that enabled working people to support their families have been shuttered or moved overseas, and wealth inequality has risen steadily. Greedy corporations have put their profits ahead of your prosperity because they know that union members earn more on average and have higher quality benefits. In Congress, I will work to pass the PRO Act, which will make it easier to join a union and protect collective bargaining rights – giving workers the labor protections they deserve.

I will also fight to rebuild the middle class by standing up to bad trade deals and unfair tax policies that benefit multinational corporations at the expense of workers right here in America. I promise that the only non-negotiable requirement necessary for me to sign on to any trade deal or tax policy will be whether it puts workers first in Kansas. It is time to stop prioritizing the needs of big business and the rich over our hardworking Kansans, and that’s what I will do if elected.

A Woman’s Right to Choose

Extremists like my opponent have ended federal protections for women’s access to vital healthcare protections. They will not stop until they have banned it across the entire country. I will stand firm against these extremists and ensure that women are not the victims of their sick political game threatening their lives or liberty. It forces victims of violent crime to be further victimized by bearing the children of their rapists. I will stand firmly beside bedrock Kansas values and work tirelessly to ensure that the extremists cannot further oppress women among us.[2]

—Patrick Schmidt's campaign website (2022)[3]