WASHINGTON D.C. — After Jeanna Repass secured the Democratic nomination and Scott Schwab clinched the Republican nomination for Kansas Secretary of State, Semedrian Smith, deputy executive director of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State (DASS), issued the following statement:
“Jeanna Repass is the type of trailblazing candidate we need as Kansas’ next Secretary of State. Throughout her time at the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Jeanna served as Director of Urban Outreach for one of the largest congregations in the nation – creating and leading programs that fed children during the summer, stood up pregnancy-prevention initiatives for teen mothers, and developed violence-prevention projects for kids in Kansas City. As the first Black woman to seek statewide office in Kansas, Jeanna continues the important work that her mother – a civil rights activist – would always say: “If not now, then when? If not you, then who?”
Right now, we need a Kansas Secretary of State who believes in American democracy. Our elections system is under grave threat, and we need those who believe in the right to vote to control the pathways to the ballot box.
“Scott Schwab has appeased the most extreme elements of the Republican Party – including those who still push the Big Lie and coordinate attacks on our right to vote – for political expediency. If reelected, he will continue the Republican campaign to politicize the Secretary of State’s office and make it harder for Kansans to exercise their legal right to vote.
“As Jeanna would say, ‘it’s time to take the office of Secretary of State back to the people.’” The best way for us to do that, and to ensure that democracy thrives in Kansas, is to elect Jeanna Repass as Secretary of State.”