Government & Politics
Topeka mayor outraises incumbent Republican Watkins in Kansas congressional race
Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla, a Democrat running for Congress, outraised incumbent Republican Rep. Steve Watkins and his primary challenger combined during the first quarter of 2020, according to new campaign finance filings.
De La Isla, Topeka’s first Latina mayor, raised roughly $338,000 in the three months since launching her campaign for Kansas’ 2nd congressional district. The district includes Lawrence, Topeka and Leavenworth.
Watkins, the incumbent Republican, collected about $123,000 during the period, less than half of De La Isla’s quarterly total.
Watkins still has more cash on hand with $437,000 compared to De La Isla’s $267,000. But Watkins’ advantage is inflated by a $250,000 personal loan he made to the campaign two years ago. He also owes more than than $25,000 to campaign vendors, according to his latest campaign finance filing. De La Isla has no debt or loan obligations.
National Democrats are targeting the seat after the party’s narrow loss in 2018. De La Isla’s strong performance during the first quarter has buoyed their confidence that the race will be competitive this year. The Democratic mayor would be the first Latina to represent Kansas if elected.
“Michelle’s focus right now is on protecting the health and safety of her community as mayor, that being said she is honored by the grassroots support this campaign has received,” Stephanie Houghton, De La Isla’s campaign manager, said in an email.
Watkins faces a primary challenge from Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner, a Republican from Pittsburg. Watkins campaign spokesman Bryan Piligra blamed De La Isla’s strong fundraising on the primary challenge and said the situation would force Republicans to spend in the district rather in other battleground races.
“It’s time for Jake LaTurner to accept the reality that he is losing, he is costing conservatives real money, and he is sabotaging President Trump’s agenda every day this nonsense continues,” Piligra said in an email.
LaTurner raised less than $43,000 during the quarter, but he has the most cash on hand with more than $571,000. The bulk of LaTurner’s money was raised during his short-lived campaign for U.S. Senate before he moved to the U.S. House race.
LaTurner’s campaign said in a statement that Watkins places the seat at risk of a Democratic takeover and that LaTurner “has significantly more cash on hand than any of his opponents and doesn’t carry the baggage.”
Watkins, an Army veteran from Topeka, narrowly won the seat by less than 1 percentage point in 2018 and has a series of legal headaches during his first term.
Steven Watkins, Sr., the congressman’s father and a Topeka physician, revealed last month that the Federal Election Commission has been reviewing donations he funneled to his son’s 2018 campaign through other people.
The congressman denied that he is the subject of an investigation, but he has racked up hefty legal bills in the past year.
He used nearly $11,000 in campaign funds to pay Wiley Rein, a prominent Washington law firm that specializes in campaign finance cases. That brings the total paid to the firm to $40,000 since December of 2018. The campaign also has $4,100 in combined debts to Wiley Rein and another Washington law firm, Holtzman Vogel Josefiak Tochinsky.
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