Jean Schodorf

Jean Kurtis Schodorf (born June 11, 1950), a former three-term Republican Kansas state senator, was the Democratic Party nominee for Kansas Secretary of State in 2014. She was defeated on November 4, 2014 by incumbent Kris Kobach by a margin of 59%-41%. Early life Schodorf was born to Wilma Mary Horton (1911–2002) and William A. Kuretich (Croatian: Kuretić), of Croatian origin (1914–2001), a U.S. Marine Corps brigadier general and decorated veteran of World War II. Her father’s military career included extensive travel for his family. Upon his retirement, the family settled in Independence, Kansas. She is the sister of television journalist Bill Kurtis. Education Schodorf is a speech/language pathologist and graduated from University of New Mexico (Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Science) and Wichita State University (Ph.D. in Communicative Disorders, post-doctoral work in education administration). Political career From 1989 to 2000, she was on the Board of Education for Unified School District 259 (Wichita School District) and was the board president in 1993, 1997 and 1999.