Posted on 04/19/2024 3:41:29 AM PDT by cotton1706
Two-term Republican U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner is not running for reelection this year in his GOP-leaning eastern Kansas district so that he can spend more time with his four young children, he announced Thursday.
LaTurner is among nearly two dozen Republicans in the U.S. House who are not running again or seeking another office.
"The unrepeatable season of life we are in, where our kids are still young and at home, is something I want to be more present for,” LaTurner said.
LaTurner's announcement leaves Republicans with no declared candidates in a district he likely would have had little trouble winning again. While the district includes Democratic strongholds in the state capital of Topeka and northern Kansas City, they're offset by rural areas that heavily favored former President Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020.
LaTurner, 36, has put on hold what seemed a promising long-term political career, saying also that he wouldn't seek any office in 2026. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is term-limited and Republicans had mentioned LaTurner as a possible candidate for the job that year.
He worked for U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins when he won a state Senate seat in 2012 at age 24, and he became Kansas' youngest-ever state treasurer at 29 when then-GOP Gov. Sam Brownback appointed him to fill a vacancy.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
CR Review score 75%
bttt
At least he’s finishing his obligation to voters. Can’t say the same for all of them. Enjoy your family. You only get to see the kids grow up once.
Note to his district: Now don’t let Deep State pick your candidates for you. Find a MAGA candidate of your own. Then don’t vote early or by mail.
So, another GOP congressmen is leaving to spend time with his children. Well , if we don’t hold the House and re-take the Senate his , yours and my children’s country and future is totally F@CKED! Even if Trump gets in he will be screwed along with the rest of us .
At least he is doing the honorable thing and finishing his term. Can’t say the same for many of the other loser Republicans leaving.
too many
are they being threatened or bribed
or both?
Politics shouldn’t be a lifetime job. Is a scandal brewing...?
This is BRIGHT RED Kansas we should be able to get a MAGA candidate in there!!
I think that could be part of it. But it could also be that many came to do their job which is impossible with this congress. I don’t think they accomplished much at all. Took six months to pass a budget. Laziest congress probably in decades. I’m surprised more don’t bail.
Blackmail. That’s why he waited until now
Yes, politics shouldn’t be a lifetime job. I’m all for term limits. The issue here is timing of the announcement. Running for Congress is a big life decision, and if one wins, it is a major change of course. The logistics of running are formidable: getting one’s affairs in order so that one can walk away from anything in the private sector; lining up support in local party circles; running the traplines around the district and state; fleshing out one’s positions on issues; recruiting a campaign staff; setting about the miserable business of raising money, etc. And it’s already April. It’s awfully late for someone else to mount a cold start candidacy.
At this point, however, we don’t know the backstory. Perhaps this decision had been privately shopped well before this and someone is waiting in the wings ready to go. That sometimes happens. The incumbent knows he’s going to step down, but he holds off long enough to kneecap any total newbies, and the succession plan works smoothly.
If it’s not prewired, the default choice slips to a current state senator or state representative or perhaps a mayor, but someone already in the game with an established political base covering a good chunk of the district and a campaign staff ready to go.
But sometimes the wheels fall off and we get a bizarro world primary won by some clown car idiot. This happens to the GOP a lot more than it should because too many Republicans refuse to think strategically and work as a team. Working as a team doesn’t mean one has to be a controlled stooge for the leadership, but it does mean accepting enough of an obligation to the RightWorld voters that you don’t cut them off at the knees with no recovery time.
If someone ran as an independent and has been a freelancer all along, fine. But if he ran on a party label as part of a party ticket with party endorsements, party financial support, and party regulars knocking on doors, he has responsibilities to the rest of the team.
None of this matters if the democrats are basically conceding the district. But if the dems are mounting a serious campaign with a serious, well-funded candidate, it could be trouble.
At this point a year ago, I’d have been for an open primary. At this late date, however, I hope it’s prewired.
So, this guy just figured out he has kids? Is he getting a payoff to exit?
Kansas, please make amends by sending us a replacement with a 98+% conservative voting record.
As a conservative Kansan here, I will make it a priority.
Kansas recently put abortion rights directly into its constitution. I’m not at all sure it’s as “BRIGHT RED” as we like to think.
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