State Treasurer Jake LaTurner of Galena ousts Steve Watkins in Kansas Republican primary

(AP) State Treasurer Jake LaTurner of Galena has ousted freshman Rep. Steve Watkins in Kansas Republican primary.

Treasurer Jake LaTurner’s victory in Tuesday’s election came only three weeks after the district attorney in Watkins’ home of Shawnee County filed felony charges against Watkins.

Watkins is accused of voting illegally in a Topeka City Council race in November 2019 and trying to mislead a sheriff’s detective investigating Watkins’ listing of a UPS Inc. store postal box as his residence on a state voter registration form. Watkins has called the criminal charges “bogus” but LaTurner argued that the criminal case made Watkins a vulnerable general election candidate.