Kansas GOP Congressman Estes endorses LaTurner over Watkins after felony charges
Rep. Ron Estes wants to give fellow Republican Rep. Steve Watkins the boot from Congress after the Kansas freshman was charged with three felonies in a voter fraud case this week.
Estes, who represents the Wichita area, announced Thursday afternoon his endorsement of Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner at Kansas Republican Party headquarters in Topeka.
He is the first prominent Kansas Republican to cut ties with Watkins following the charges. Estes preceded LaTurner as state treasurer before entering the U.S. House in a 2017 in a special election for the seat vacated by now-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The southern part of Watkins’ 2nd District, which covers most of eastern Kansas, borders Estes’ 4th Congressional District.
At a joint news conference, LaTurner and Estes said Watkins will be distracted by the criminal charges at a time when Kansas needs the full attention of their members of Congress.
“I’ve worked with Steve for the last two years. He’s not done a bad job as congressman in terms of work on the floor and in the committee. I just think because of the charges and timing on when they came out—I mean, one, we all have to presume innocent until proven guilty— but it is going to be a distraction,” Estes said.
“Obviously, that’s going to be a distraction for the primary,” he continued. “It’s going to be a distraction for the general, but even more importantly it’s going to be a distraction for doing the work we need to get done.”
The Topeka Republican faces three felony charges and a misdemeanor following an investigation into whether he voted illegally in last year’s municipal election.
Watkins had the address of a UPS store in Topeka as his registration address and allegedly voted in the wrong city council district. He faces two felony charges for election crimes and another felony charge for allegedly lying to a Shawnee County detective.
“No one made Congressman Watkins be dishonest on his voter registration. No one made Congressman Watkins be dishonest about where he lives,” LaTurner said. “And certainly, no one made Congressman Watkins be dishonest with police in this investigation.”
The winner of the GOP primary will face likely Democratic nominee Michelle De La Isla, the mayor Topeka who has outraised every Republican since January.
The voter fraud charges against a sitting Republican member of Congress come at a time when President Donald Trump has been asserting, without evidence, that widespread fraud will benefit Democrats in November..
Trump campaigned for Watkins in 2018 and the congressman is an honorary campaign co-chair in Kansas, along with every other Republican member of the delegation.
White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Thursday that she was unaware of the charges against Watkins.
“That’s the first I’m hearing of that,” McEnany said. “I haven’t spoken to the president of it. He does have very real concerns about voter fraud, and he’s mentioned several of those. And there’s yet more information that there is rampant voter fraud when you have mass mail-in voting.”
Watkins’ campaign and legal team have asserted that the charges are an effort to boost LaTurner’s candidacy in the three-way August 4 Republican primary, which also features former Kansas Secretary of Administration Dennis Taylor.
The claim is based on LaTurner and Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay having shared the same direct mail vendor.
“Jake LaTurner is a habitual office-seeker, and it’s clear now that there is nothing he will not do to advance his political career - including colluding with a corrupt prosecutor and their shared cronies,” Watkins campaign spokesman Bryan Piligra said in a statement Thursday morning.
Watkins’ campaign declined to respond to Estes’ endorsement of LaTurner later in the day.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office has been silent on the issue, as has every Republican in the Kansas delegation apart from Estes, including Rep. Roger Marshall, a leading candidate for U.S. Senate who was an early endorser of Watkins in 2018.
Marshall’s rival in the U.S. Senate race, former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, has also been silent about the Watkins case despite the fact that Kobach brought similar charges against private citizens during his tenure as the only secretary of state in the nation with prosecutorial power.
McClatchy’s Michael Wilner contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 3:59 PM.
