Farmer 'alarmed' by Trump mounts challenge to House Republican

Southeast Kansas farmer challenges Republican incumbent for 2nd District congressional seat

by Anna Kaminski, Kansas Reflector
September 9, 2025

TOPEKA — A southeast Kansas farmer, veterinarian and veteran is running for Congress because he is “increasingly alarmed at the direction this administration is heading.”

Don Coover, a Democrat and political newcomer, is challenging Republican Derek Schmidt, who currently holds the 2nd District seat. Coover wants to see a more inclusive, solutions-oriented government and country, he said.

“I think we, as a country, are becoming more and more authoritarian, less and less tolerant of each other, and less willing to seek solutions to problems we all see through slightly different lenses,” he said.

The focus of his campaign largely revolves around the pocketbook. Tariffs are harming the agriculture industry, Coover said. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act is piling on trillions to the national debt, he said, “and if we don’t do anything about it, people like my granddaughter are going to be left to clean up the mess.”

He said he is also concerned about the availability and sustainability of rural hospitals.

“If you get your arm torn off in a hay baler or your kid spikes a high fever, you shouldn’t have to drive four hours to get to an ER,” Coover said. “We’ve got to get our health care system working for people, not insurance companies.”

Coover is a West Point graduate, and he later earned a degree from Kansas State University’s veterinary medicine school. In between, he was a U.S. Army military intelligence pilot in Korea.

Coover helps run the family business, raising Wagyu beef on a southeast Kansas ranch “built on science, legacy, and the belief that truly great beef begins long before the plate,” the company’s website says. He also owns a Galesburg-based company offering routine veterinary and health management services for cattle, along with cattle embryo transfer and in vitro fertilization.

Coover lives on a ranch in Galesburg with his wife. He has two stepchildren and a granddaughter. His campaign office is headquartered in Pittsburg, according to federal campaign filing records.

“Any sane person can see how broken politics is these days. When something is broken, something has to be done to fix it,” Coover said. “I’ve always been one of the guys who would do the jobs that had to get done, but no one else wanted to do. We need less career politicians making decisions in Washington and more folks who are used to putting in a hard day of work.”

Kansas’ 2nd District stretches from the state’s southeast border to its northeast corner, meandering around Johnson, Miami, Franklin and Anderson counties, through parts of Douglas and Wyandotte counties and as far west as Marion County. Schmidt won the district in 2024, defeating Democrat Nancy Boyda by more than 57,000 votes. Kansas has one Democratic congressional delegate, U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids of the state’s 3rd District. Each of the state’s U.S. House seats and one U.S. Senate seat are up for reelection in 2026.

Coover filed paperwork to run for Congress on Aug. 25. He is beginning his campaign while his opponent has a more than $260,000 lead, according to campaign records. Coover said he is focused on getting his message out to people across his district and doing “the right things for Kansans and our country.”

“Compare that to Rep. Schmidt, who’s been running for and been in elected office for the past 25 years. He’s part of the career politicians who are more focused on doing what their party leaders want them to do,” Coover said. “I think people are ready for new voices.”

Kansas Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kansas Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sherman Smith for questions: info@kansasreflector.com.