GOP governor candidate Vicki Schmidt’s running mate will be Kansas Farm Bureau president

Kansas Republican governor candidate Vicki Schmidt, the state's insurance commissioner, will file for office with Kansas Farm Bureau President Joe Newland as her lieutenant governor running mate. (Kansas Reflector image of submitted photograph)

TOPEKA — Kansas Insurance Commissioner and Republican gubernatorial candidate Vicki Schmidt chose Monday to name the president of Kansas Farm Bureau as her lieutenant governor running mate, less than three months before the pivotal August primary election.

Schmidt, a former state senator from Topeka in her second term as insurance commissioner, decided to partner with Joe Newland, a former state representative who has served as KFB’s president since 2022. His role with the agriculture organization has been to advocate for farmers and ranchers at the state and national levels.

He represented from 2019 to 2022 a southeast Kansas House district comprised of Greenwood, Elk, Woodson and Wilson counties.

Newland resides in Neodesha and operates a farm with 4,000 acres of soybeans, corn, wheat and hay, along with a cow-calf operation of more than 400 head.

“He understands the challenges Kansans face every day — tirelessly fighting to protect our land, water and way of life,” Schmidt said.

Schmidt, a pharmacist by profession, said Newland was recognized as a trusted leader in rural Kansas.

“So many Kansans have seen firsthand the humble and honest leadership Joe brings to the table,” she said. “He isn’t afraid of hard work and he knows how to get his boots dirty.”

Newland, who was the GOP’s vice chair on the House agriculture budget committee, said he was excited to be part of Schmidt’s ticket. He said he looked forward to speaking with voters about how to advance “common sense solutions that will actually lower costs, streamline operations and get government out of the way.”

Newland plans to leave the presidency of the Kansas Farm Bureau when he formally files for office with Schmidt at the June 1 deadline.

If successful in the August primary and November general election, Newland would serve as lieutenant governor and as secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture.

It wouldn’t be an unprecedented role, given that Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s lieutenant governor, David Toland, also serves as as secretary of the Kansas Department of Commerce.

“Vicki and I share a love for Kansas and a passion for service,” Newland said. “It’s clear to me, like so many other Republicans across Kansas, she is the best choice to be our next governor.”

The field of GOP candidates for governor includes Schmidt, former Gov. Jeff Colyer, Secretary of State Scott Schwab, Senate President Ty Masterson, businessman Philip Sarnecki as well as Joy Eakins, Charlotte O’Hara and Stacey Rogers.