Kansas Rep. Watkins unseated after facing criminal charges

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - Freshman Kansas Rep. Steve Watkins lost his Republican primary Tuesday after being charged with felony election fraud and other crimes.

State Treasurer Jake LaTurner defeated Watkins after arguing that the criminal charges against Watkins made an already vulnerable incumbent an even worse bet with Democrats sensing an opportunity to pick up the 2nd District seat in eastern Kansas despite its Republican leanings. Watkins had largely toed the conservative line and vocally supported President Donald Trump in Congress.

The charges against Watkins were filed in state district court his home of Shawnee County just three weeks before the election and arose from his listing a postal box at a UPS Inc. store as his residence on a state voter registration form.

Watkins and LaTurner battled for the GOP nomination with Dennis Taylor, a Topeka lawyer and businessman with a long career in state and local government that has included heading several state agencies. Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla won the Democratic nomination easily over James Windholz, a University of Kansas graduate student and instructor.

LaTurner is a former state senator who has served as state treasurer since 2017. De La Isla is the first Latina and single mother to serve as Topeka mayor, winning the office in 2017 after serving on the City Council.

Watkins is accused of voting illegally in a Topeka City Council race in November 2019 and of trying to mislead a sheriff's detective who was investigating whether he broke state election laws by listing the UPS postal box as his residence last yerar for voter registration purposes. Watkins later corrected his residential address - twice - so that it's now an apartment that lies outside the City Council district that includes the UPS store.

Watkins has said he made a mistake and corrected it. He's called the criminal charges 'œbogus'ť and has accused the local district attorney, Mike Kagay, of colluding with LaTurner because both share a direct mail services firm. He acknowledged during a Kansas City Star interview last week that he voted in the wrong City Council district but said he did not intend to break the law. He suggested the voter registration resulted from 'œcollegial'ť work with his staff but denied an allegation that he tried to mislead the detective by blaming the voter registration problem on his staff.

Democrats and some Republicans already saw Watkins as vulnerable this year because he won the November 2018 election by less than a percentage point after emerging from a crowded GOP primary with less than 27% of the vote. He is a former Army officer and military contractor.