Leavenworth prosecutor, state lawmaker weighing runs for Congress as Kansas rep LaTurner exits

Mike Kuckelman, a former chairman of the Kansas Republican Party, said most people believed LaTurner would run again. He said the news caught him by surprise.

“So I imagine there are people scrambling now to kick the tires. But what will be interesting to see is how many of those actually jump in the race,” Kuckelman said.

Whoever emerges from the primaries will be campaigning amid a turbulent presidential election featuring former President Donald Trump at the top of the GOP ticket. Trump is currently on trial over allegations he falsified business records in New York, leaving open the possibility the Republican ticket will be led by someone convicted of a felony.

Still, the 2nd District under LaTurner has been solidly Republican. The congressman won reelection in 2022 by a 15-point margin. As recently as 2018, Watkins nearly lost to Democrat Paul Davis, defeating the Lawrence lawyer by less than one point.

Kansas lawmakers redrew the district in 2022 to exclude Lawrence – a major concentration of Democratic voters. No Democrats are currently running for the seat, after the only announced candidate, Eli Woody, suspended his campaign last month.

Woody is now running for a Kansas House seat. In an email on Thursday, Woody said he doesn’t think LaTurner’s decision wouldn’t change much about the race.

“Huge sums of money went to Mr. LaTurner from groups like those funded by Mr. Koch; I suspect that will stay the case for whomever steps in to run in November as his Republican replacement,” Woody wrote, referring to the Wichita-based libertarian-leaning political megadonor Charles Koch.

“We must do whatever we can, wherever we can, to end this disgusting trend in our politics.”

Steve Fitzgerald, a former Republican state senator from Leavenworth who ran for Congress in 2018, laughed when The Star asked if he had interest in running again. He said that the question is whether any groups or organizations will get behind a particular candidate, leading others to back away.

“But I have no idea of who or what or when,” Fitzgerald said. “Other than that, it’s going to be sandlot baseball.”

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