Watkins called the charges “highly suspicious” and “hyperpolitical.” The freshman lawmaker denied wrongdoing, said he had fully cooperated with the district attorney and hoped to clear his name.
But Watkins already faced a formidable primary challenge from State Treasurer Jake LaTurner, who abandoned an attempt by the Senate to run for a House seat.
The two met on stage in the debate, and the first question focused on the new charges against Watkins.
“We need to do our best. Clearly, our current congressman, with three felony charges and one misdemeanor, is not the person to do it,” LaTurner said.
He rebuked Watkins and compared him to his 8-year-old son, Joe. “Sometimes he makes a mistake and falsifies the truth and I have to say, ‘Hi Joe, take responsibility for what you’ve done, be honest.’ Steve Watkins needs to hear the same thing tonight.”
LaTurner has already garnered the backing of the mighty Kansas Farm Bureau and had accumulated more than Watkins by the end of the first quarter of 2020.
Watkins, an Army veteran and West Point graduate, won the seat in East Kansas in 2018. He narrowly beat Paul Davis, a moderate Democrat and former state lawmaker, thanks to the outside spending of a largely party directed and financed by his father.
But his father, Steve Watkins, Sr., told POLITICO in March that the Federal Election Commission is investigating him for giving thousands of dollars to his daughters, a housing construction contractor, and the contractor’s wife, who they later used to maximize your profit. The son’s campaign. Such donations violate campaign finance laws.
Trump won this district by 19 points, but the Democrats hope to run again in 2020. His likely nominee is Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla.
Melanie Zanona contributed to this report.
