Patrick Schmitt

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For the figure skater, see Patrick Schmit.

Patrick Schmitt is the former Executive Director of Students Taking Action Now: Darfur and is currently a candidate for state senate in Westerly, Rhode Island.

Schmitt was born on June 12, 1984 to John Patrick Schmitt and Sylvia Picard Schmitt as the second of four children. He graduated from Don Bosco Preparatory High School in 2002 before going on to Georgetown University, where he graduated cum laude with a degree in International Politics, with a focus on international law and ethics, in 2006. Patrick lives in Westerly and is a sixth generation Rhode Islander.

In 2005, Schmitt became the Executive Director of Students Taking Action Now: Darfur, a student group dedicated to ending the genocide in Darfur with over 400 chapters nationwide. During his tenure as Executive Director, the organization more than doubled its number of chapters. It also raised roughly $1 million for relief efforts in DarfurFast in October 2005, along with lobbying congressional representatives to co-sponsor legislation dedicated to ending the genocide and attempting to raise public awareness about the genocide. As part of these efforts, Schmitt testified before the Rhode Island State House of Representatives Finance Committee in favor of divestment from companies doing business in Sudan and briefed congressional aides on the situation in Darfur.

Schmitt ran for Rhode Island's 38th District State Senate seat as a Democrat against incumbent Republican State Senate Minority Leader Dennis Algiere. Algiere had run unopposed since 1992 until Schmitt's 2006 run.