KS-02: This Kansas congressional race was one of nation's closest in 2018. Will it be again?

Kansas Republican Steve Watkins was narrowly elected to Congress in 2018 in one of the nation’s closest races. Now, he’s fighting for his political survival in the face of felony charges and better-funded challengers in both August and November.

Kansas’ 2nd Congressional District is again one of the most competitive on the 2020 map. Watkins has a dual primary challenge from Kansas Treasurer Jake LaTurner, the youngest statewide elected official in the nation, and Dennis Taylor, whose long career has included stints in local, state and federal government.

If he makes it through the August 4 primary, Watkins will be running against Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla, a well-funded Democrat with a remarkable life story about her journey from homeless teenager in Puerto Rico to mayor of Kansas’ capital city.

The district covers 25 counties that stretch from the state’s northeast corner to the Oklahoma border— a diverse set of communities which include Lawrence, Topeka, rural enclaves and one of the oldest operating military bases in the country in Leavenworth.

Watkins, 43, an Army veteran with graduate degrees from Harvard and MIT, admitted to The Star Tuesday that he voted in the wrong district, but he disputed that he should have been charged with a felony. He called it a mistake rather than intentional effort to influence the outcome of the city council race.

De La Isla, 44, moved from New York to Puerto Rico as a toddler. She became homeless at 17, spending the first several months staying with different friends until she finally ran out of places.

“It wasn’t until I had to stay in an abandoned house and I had to walk into a campus to take a shower that I realized something’s not right here,” she said.



https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article244567977.html#storylink=cpy