A Kansas Republican is ending a political campaign for a federal seat in hopes of gaining another.
Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner is abandoning his campaign for the US Senate seat opening up next year when Pat Roberts retires. Instead, he’s now challenging incumbent Steve Watkins for the Second District House seat. He says Second District residents “deserve a solid conservative fighter they can count on.”
LaTurner made his decision after encouragement by former governor Jeff Colyer, but there is no immediate word on whether that played a role in his change.
Watkins has been the subject of recent rumors he would resign his post. He has emphatically hit back against those rumors over the past two weeks. Spokesman Bryan Piligra dismissed LaTurner’s decision, saying his career has been “political ladder-climbing.”
With Colyer not running for Senate and LaTurner changing his focus from Senate to House, there is increasing interest in Congressman Roger Marshall’s political future. Marshall, considered a likely Senate candidate when Roberts announced his retirement early this year, will announce his future plans during the Kansas State Fair on Saturday.
The Senate race is already crowded. On the Republican side, candidates include current Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle and former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. On the Democrat side, the candidate list includes former Congresswoman Nancy Boyda, former US Attorney for Kansas Barry Grissom and current Manhattan City Commissioner Usha Reddi.
