Scott Schwab  Scott Joseph Schwab (born July 9, 1972) is the current Secretary of State of Kansas. He formerly served as a Republican member of the Kansas House of Representatives, representing the 49th district. He received national attention when his son Caleb was killed in an accident on the Verrückt water slide. In August 2018, he became the Republican nominee in the 2018 Kansas Secretary of State election. Schwab has worked as a marketing consultant, and has a Bachelor of Arts from Fort Hays State University. Schwab began serving as a member of the Kansas House of Representatives in June 2003. In 2004 he won the primary in the Republican district with 69.1% of the vote, against Shannon Giles. In 2006, he chose to run in the Republican primary for the 3rd Congressional District, a seat held at that time by four-term Democratic incumbent, Dennis Moore. Schwab faced banker Chuck Ahner of Overland Park, Thomas Scherer of Merriam and Paul Showen of Shawnee. Ahner won the 3rd District primary with 51.9% to Schwab's 32.5% of the vote. Benjamin B. Hodge won the Republican primary for the District 49 seat with 52.7% of the vote, and succeeded Schwab in the state House. In 2008, Schwab ran again for his old 49th District seat, was unopposed in the primary, and defeated Democrat Kristi Boone in the general election. In 2017, Schwab announced that he would be a candidate for Kansas Secretary of State in the 2018 primary. He said he was not interested in rolling back standards crafted by Secretary Kris Kobach, but that his experience as House Speaker "pro tem" and chairing the Elections and Insurance committees helped qualify him for the position. By winning the post and succeeding Kobach, the case of "Fish v. Kobach," regarding Kansas voter identification standards, became "Fish v. Schwab". The top 5 donors to Schwab's 2008 campaign:  Regarding gay issues, Schwab believes being gay is a "lifestyle choice". He is against same-sex marriage and describes himself as pro-life. Schwab opposes legalization of medical marijuana, saying "this would be an attempt to legalize marijuana. It has no benefit for pain management. All it does is make you crave another bag of chips." In 2014, Schwab lost the Kansas Chamber of Commerce endorsement and contributions when he refused to support repeal of renewable energy standards, saying no business had publicly advocated repeal.