Posted on 07/16/2020 7:45:30 AM PDT by LibertyWoman
...
The charges against GOP Rep. Steve Watkins came three weeks before the state’s Aug. 4 primary election with fellow Republicans pushing to oust him from the eastern Kansas seat he barely won in 2018, even though he’s largely toed the conservative policy line and supported President Donald Trump. ...
... District Attorney Mike Kagay announced them less than half an hour before the three GOP candidates’ only scheduled debate began on three stations.
...
The most serious criminal charge accuses Watkins of voting in the 2019 local city and school board election without being qualified. A first-time offender who’s convicted could face a year in prison, though the more typical sentence would be two years’ probation.
Kagay also charged Watkins with voting illegally in advance and interfering with law enforcement by providing false information. Both felonies could bring up to seven months in prison, though a year’s probation is the presumed sentence.
Watkins also was charged with failing to notify the state Division of Vehicles of a change of address, a misdemeanor.
(Excerpt) Read more at fox2now.com ...
School board election?
Yet, the thousands of people who commit voter fraud, on a federal level, get a wrist slap, if anything at all.
Agree.
He's pro-Watkins more than pro-Trump. His daddy bought him the seat, he's had ethics issues ever since he ran in 2018, and he's about as slimy as you can get. He doesn't live in the state much less his district, he has been the subject of sexual misconduct charges, and his opponent in the primary, Jake LaTurner, has demonstrated solid conservative beliefs in the state House and as Treasurer. He is a much better choice than Watkins and will keep the seat for the GOP. Watkins may not.
Maybe it has something to do with buying off 95% of Congress...
within the details of the charges are the reason why they were filed. Watkins doesn't live in the state much less in his district.
The most serious criminal charge accuses Watkins of voting in the 2019 local city and school board election without being qualified.
He's an R, but that's right out of the Democrat platform.
Conservatives in this state had reservations about this guy from the beginning. It seems he shopped himself to the Democrats prior to declaring as a Republican candidate.
He ran as pro-life but had stated in the past he is pro-abortion. But everyone can grow and change.
His wife got volunteer of the year award from the National Planned Parenthood organization.
There is concern that he surrounded himself with swamp rats once he got to DC, but who else are you going to find in DC.
Kaygay, the prosecutor who is charging him is a Republican but I don't know much about him.
There were real conservatives in the primary against him, but maybe too many and Watkins sqeaked by them in a close race.
Not saying he's a bad guy, because I don't know, but there were red flags a plenty.
I believe so!
He's my Congress critter. Smart guy, West Point, MIT, Harvard. His father lives in Kansas, but I'm not sure that Watkins has really lived here, certainly not as an adult. I think that this is why he has gotten into this mess. His political opponents attacked him on his tenuous ties to Kansas and his district. Before he was elected, he had probably spent more time climbing mountains like Mt. Everest than he has putting in a soybean crop.
It turns out, he was living in his parents house, and, of course as soon as he was elected, he headed for Washington. This is a Kansas tradition. Senator Roberts hasn't lived in Kansas since 1958 and Bob Dole lived in the Watergate. We had more sightings of Carolina Parakeets than we did of Roberts and Dole. Watkins planned to do the same thing.
Unfortunately, the prosecutor believes that he decided to lie to parry the attacks from his political enemies which led him to vote when he wasn't eligible to vote and then lie to investigators when he was called on it. The prosecutor is a Republican, but both parties hate the guy, he isn't one of them, establishment wannabe deep state politicians.
If the Republicans can't throw him out in the primary, the Democrats will take the seat. Nancy Boyda won the seat in 2006 as a Democrat. She would be be still in the House except that she made a couple of stupid gaffs and was thrown out in 2008. Watkins is going to be convicted and will be thrown out by the voters.
They didn’t really need to.
The fact that he was charged with anything eliminates the possibility that he’s a Democrat.
Great point but I was talking about the DA that brought charges against the congressman.
I just find the entire thing suspect. The timing, the 'players' (repubics) etc. And he sounds like he was solidly behind President Trump.
Anyway, it really doesn't sound like a great loss either way. He was/is sleeping on a cot so he and his wife can save enough money for a house in Washington so he was quite cocky that he was going to be a mainstay in Congress i.e. swamp.
Thanks for the belly laugh on this hot, dry July day! Cracked me up.
Watkins does sound like a swamp wannabe. I was just suspect of the entire process. It reminded me of the takedown of our Governor here in Missouri. Repubics were behind that because they hated him. He was working on eliminating their additional sources of grift i.e. tax credits for corporations etc. And he was well liked by Missourians for that.
'Another one bites the dust'
I thought it was pretty lame as well
“... accuses Watkins of voting in the 2019 local city and school board election”
He’s the congressman, do he’s required to live in KS.
Did he fail to maintain a home there?
Is it just about a Box, instead of a physical address?
Interesting...thx
He says it was a “mistake”. The article posits me may been living with his parents at the time.
The UPS store is in a council district and he voted in that election and it was a 13 vote race. But would he really do voter fraud to influence some city council race?
Frankly, I don’t a shit. But we don’t need to be risking this seat he barely won last time, is he even such a great guy? He’s just some rando freshman. The Mayor of Topeka will be the rat nominee.
For the Romans, the Tiber would have been much closer than either.
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