Former U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel endorses Derek Schmidt for Kansas attorney general

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LEAVENWORTH, KS -- (August 31, 2010) - Former United States Senator Chuck Hagel(R-NE) today endorsed Kansas Senate Majority Leader Derek Schmidt in his bid for Kansas Attorney General.  Hagel made the endorsement while in Leavenworth and the Kansas City area while campaigning in support of Schmidt's election.  

After being elected to the Senate in 1996, Hagel hired Schmidt as his general counsel and legislative director.  In that capacity, Schmidt served as Senator Hagel's chief legal adviser and as the top administrator overseeing Hagel's policy staff.   Before working for Senator Hagel, Schmidt worked as an assistant to U.S. Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum, R-Kansas.

"Derek Schmidt is the kind of independent-minded leader we need in public service,"Hagel said.  "Years ago, Derek was a leader for my staff and a trusted adviser as my general counsel.  I'm very proud to support him for Kansas Attorney General.  We need more of his kind of responsible leadership."

Schmidt left Hagel's staff at the end of 1998 to return home to Kansas, where he was appointed Assistant Kansas Attorney General for consumer protection in the administration of Attorney General Carla Stovall.  He later served as special counsel to Governor Bill Graves before being elected to the Kansas Senate in 2000.

"I'm honored to have the endorsement of Senator Chuck Hagel, a respected, independent-minded Republican leader," Schmidt said.  "Providing counsel for SenatorHagel and his staff has been a highlight of my professional career."

In the Kansas Senate, Schmidt was the principal sponsor of Jessica's Law, which puts violent sex offenders who prey on children in prison for life, and of the Sheriff Matt Samuels Act, which reduced the number of methamphetamine laboratories in Kansas by about 70 percent.  He currently serves as vice chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and works as a city prosecutor in his hometown of Independence, Kansas.

During his years in the U.S. Senate, Hagel developed a reputation as an independent thinker who worked across party lines to accomplish public policy goals.  A twice-wounded veteran of the Vietnam War, Hagel is considered an expert on American foreign policy, garnering the respect of Democrats and Republicans alike for his independent views.

Hagel currently is a Distinguished Professor at Georgetown University and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.  He is Co-Chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board; Chairman of The Atlantic Council; a member of the Secretary of Defense's Policy Board and Secretary of Energy's Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future.