Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner is leaving the U.S. Senate race to challenge the 2nd Congressional District incumbent Steve Watkins. (Photo by Jim McLean, Kansas News Service)
by Stephen Koranda, Kansas News Service
Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner is ending his campaign for the U.S. Senate and instead is launching a primary challenge against Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Watkins.
First reported by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, LaTurner said he’s switching his efforts to run for the 2nd District, arguing that Watkins isn’t running a good campaign and it could cost the Republican Party the seat.
The announcement comes a week after former Gov. Jeff Colyer publicly urged LaTurner to challenge Watkins.
Incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Watkins, R-2nd Dist., will face a challenger in his 2020 re-election bid. (Photo by Brian Grimmett, Kansas News Service)
“Second District residents deserve a solid conservative fighter they can count on,” LaTurner said in a news release, adding later, “We must nominate a Republican that can win the general election and fight for our principles.”
Shortly after the news broke, Watkins’ campaign issued a news release, calling LaTurner a career politician who’s focused on climbing the political ladder.
“The contrast could not be more clear — a life of service versus a life of self-service,” Watkins spokesman Bryan Piligra said.
The most recent financial report showed LaTurner had almost $500,000 for his Senate campaign, which is about double what Watkins reported for his re-election bid.
Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio and the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda or email skoranda (at) ku (dot) edu.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished by news media at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
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Former Gov. Jeff Colyer said this week that he will not be running for U.S. Senate in 2020, but he is encouraging Jake LaTurner, state treasurer, to run for the 2nd Congressional District seat in 2020.
Colyer, an Overland Park physician, plans to be a fall 2019 Fellow at the Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service in Washington, D.C., his alma mater, according to a news release. Colyer also is on call as a surgeon at hospitals in the Kansas City area and has several projects in the private sector.
“I appreciate all the encouragement I have received since Senator Roberts announced that he wouldn’t be seeking re-election in 2020. Right now I am doing some interesting things in private sector and in medicine.” Dr. Colyer said in a news release. He plans to continue his service to the state in the future, he added.
In a news release on Tuesday, Colyer called on LaTurner to end his campaign for the U.S. Senate and instead seek the nomination for the U.S. House, 2nd District – a district with a Republican incumbent. LaTurner is from southeast Kansas and is currently a resident of Topeka.
“The fact is we have too many candidates in the Senate race and a need for an improved candidate in the Second District. This would help our state in two ways—by giving us a viable conservative option in the Second District and helping to clear the logjam in the Senate race,” Colyer said in the news release.
The 2nd District currently is represented by Republican Steve Watkins, a conservative, who has not said that he is not running.
Colton Gibson, Colyer’s former special assistant, said that running for office in 2020 is out of the picture for the former governor, but 2022 is another story. Another U.S. Senate seat and the governor’s seat are up for election in 2022, and Colyer is looking at 2022, he said.
However, Colyer is not considering a run for the 3rd Congressional District, Gibson said. He has run for that office before, in 2002. Adam Taff won the Republican nomination that year by about 2,800 votes over Colyer, losing to incumbent Democrat Congressman Dennis Moore in the general election.
Colyer was lieutenant governor when former Gov. Sam Brownback stepped down to accept an appointment in 2018. Colyer lost the GOP governor primary to Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach by 343 votes in a seven-candidate race. Kobach lost the general election to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly.
Kobach announced in July he would be a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat in 2020, and arguably has the best name recognition of six Republicans who currently are being mentioned for the office. Susan Wagle, Kansas Senate president, is another well-known GOP candidate.
On the Democratic side, Barry Grissom, former U.S. attorney, and Nancy Boyda, former U.S. representative from the 2nd District, are among the candidates.
Kris Kobach (File photo by Scott Canon, Kansas News Service)
by Stephen Koranda, Kansas News Service
Leavenworth, Kansas — Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a Republican, announced Monday that he’s running for the U.S. Senate seat held by Pat Roberts.
Kobach beat then-Gov. Jeff Colyer in the primary election last year — helped partly by a last-minute endorsement from President Donald Trump — but ultimately lost the governor’s race to Democrat Laura Kelly.
Now, the politician who’s made a career battling immigration and claiming voter fraud is rampant, says he wants to take his confrontational politics to Capitol Hill.
“The Washington establishment is not going to get what they want,” Kobach said at an event in Leavenworth announcing the campaign.
Kobach is a conservative firebrand, but his gubernatorial campaign had lackluster fundraising and largely relied on money from his running mate. Some Republicans criticized Kobach’s campaign after the election loss for not focusing enough on fundraising and voter turnout.
The former secretary of state said running for Senate will not be like his campaign for governor.
“Raising money is different in a Senate campaign,” Kobach said. “I’ll be raising that money differently and I think you’ll see some surprising results.”
A filing to the federal government for a committee called Kobach for Senate initially misspelled Kobach’s first name as “Chris,” but was later corrected. Signs printed for his announcement in Leavenworth read: “Less government, more liberty” and “Build the wall.”
Kobach takes a hard line on illegal immigration, one of his signature issues, and has had close ties to Trump, who endorsed Kobach the day before the primary election last year.
“Our borders are being overrun,” he said Monday. “The calls for socialism on the left get louder and louder and they don’t stop. If not for the election of Donald Trump, I think our nation would be in a steep, downward spiral right now.”
Kobach said he had spoken with the president in recent days about immigration. In fact, he was considered a candidate to lead the Department of Homeland Security, although his reported demands for the job drew negative publicity.
“It became very clear to me that the president needs someone who will lead the charge for him in the United States Senate,” Kobach said.
The Republican field is filling with well-known contenders either exploring a race or outright running. That includes U.S. Rep. Roger Marshall of western Kansas, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt, Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner and Senate President Susan Wagle.
Another potential candidate is the one Kobach beat in the GOP primary last year, former Gov. Jeff Colyer. Handicappers would likely mark U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who represented Wichita in the U.S. House, a heavy favorite for the Republican nomination if he chose to get in the race.
Kansans haven’t sent a Democrat to the U.S. Senate since the 1930s. This year, former U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom and former U.S. Rep. Nancy Boyda have announced campaigns. Democrats are coming off victories last year with heightened interest in the Senate race.
While Kobach was making his announcement early Monday afternoon, the Kansas Democratic Party was already using his candidacy to raise money. “We need to do everything we can to make sure Kobach doesn’t win in 2020,” the party said in a fundraising plea.
Kobach’s conservatism has attracted a loyal following.
“He has a very devoted base of supporters,” said Emporia State political science professor Michael Smith.
The challenge, Smith said, is that Kobach’s controversial nature isn’t as appealing to general election voters as Republican primary voters.
Yet Smith notes that Kansans have a much stronger record of voting Republican in Senate races compared to races for governor.
After the criticism of a poor campaign structure and fundraising in the race for governor last year, some political watchers might think Kobach is doomed to repeat those mistakes this time around. University of Kansas political science professor Patrick Miller said don’t jump to conclusions just yet.
“No two elections are alike,” Miller said. “A Senate race is very different from a gubernatorial race.”
For one, Miller said a U.S. Senate race may attract more national attention and outside money than a state race like governor.
Even though he’s coming off a loss, Smith said Kobach wields one advantage many of Senate contenders don’t have: nearly everyone knows the name Kris Kobach.
“Kobach comes in with extremely high name recognition,” Smith said. “It absolutely shakes up the race.”
Stephen Koranda is Statehouse reporter for Kansas Public Radio and the Kansas News Service, a collaboration of KCUR, Kansas Public Radio, KMUW and High Plains Public Radio covering health, education and politics. Follow him on Twitter @kprkoranda or email skoranda (at) ku (dot) edu.
Kansas News Service stories and photos may be republished at no cost with proper attribution and a link to ksnewsservice.org.
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