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 Speakerpro 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.
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. Koch Industries lobbyist Jonathan Small told him they opposed the standards. He told Small that legislators "needed some Kansas businesses to advocate it, because right now it looked as an anti-business vote. He told me at the time only Koch wanted the measure. I recommended that Koch testify then. Jon said if they did that, people would not like them. My response was that people don't like them anyway, so just be honest." After the death of his son at a water park, Schwab supported additional government regulations on the inspection of water parks.
Personal life
Schwab's 10-year-old son, Caleb, was decapitated on August 7, 2016, in an accident on the Verrückt water slide at the Schlitterbahn Kansas City waterpark. The family received a reported $20 million settlement. Schwab was criticized for taking advantage of Texas legal provisions that permitted him to sue for a higher amount than that allowed by a Kansas law that he, as a state lawmaker, voted for in 2014. In March 2018, Schlitterbahn and three current or former employees were indicted by the Kansas Attorney General on charges related to Caleb's death. The charges against the defendants were dismissed, due to prosecutorial misconduct with the grand jury. Schwab and his wife, Michele, have three surviving children.
