PITTSBURG, Kan. — With the 2022 midterm elections just over a year away, congressional hopefuls are creeping out of the woodwork and stepping up to challenge incumbents, and southeast Kansas is no different. This week, Johnson County native Patrick Schmidt announced he would be running for Kansas’ District 2 seat, becoming the first Democrat to announce their intentions to challenge freshman GOP Congressman Jake LaTurner. Schmidt, 30, is a former U.S. Navy Intelligence officer who moved back to Kansas earlier this year after spending four years serving as a Naval officer in Washington DC, according to his LinkedIn profile.