U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, a Republican who represents Kansas’ 2nd District, announced Thursday he won’t seek reelection, creating another open race in a furious partisan fight for control of the House.
LaTurner, 36, was first elected to the House in 2020. In a statement, LaTurner said it was time to “pursue other opportunities and have the benefit of spending more time with my family.”
“It has become fashionable for some to fear for the future of this country and act as though the problems we face and the divisions that exist are insurmountable, but that is just not true. Undoubtedly, the current dysfunction on Capitol Hill is distressing, but it almost always has been; we just didn’t see most of it,” LaTurner said, adding that he remains optimistic about the future of the country.
LaTurner joins a wave of Republican members who have resigned or retired as their party’s narrow majority in the House has struggled to govern. His announcement came as a surprise to many Kansas Republicans, and his departure creates an open race in a district that largely supports Republican candidates.
It is unclear which candidates will step up to run for his seat, and the Democrat who registered to challenge LaTurner, Eli Woody, already dropped out of the race to run for the Kansas House. This is the first open race since the district, which spans much of eastern Kansas, was redrawn in 2022.
“Most people figured Jake LaTurner would run for that seat again. … This news at least caught me completely by surprise. I had no idea he wasn’t going to run again,” Mike Kuckelman, a former Kansas Republican Party chairman, said.
“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.”
Over the past two years, LaTurner has been a loyal supporter of Republican leadership, even as a small group of conservative hard-liners have held up significant legislation, ousted a Republican speaker and have threatened to oust a second over his support for foreign aid to Ukraine.
His support for several pieces of legislation that have helped keep the government running has led to criticism from the Republican base in Kansas.
After LaTurner voted to pass a large spending bill last month, Mike Brown, the chairman of the Kansas Republican Party sent a public email implicitly warning LaTurner and Sen. Jerry Moran to hew closer to the party’s base.
“It is my job to remind our electeds they should be referencing the Kansas Republican Party Constitution, Bylaws, and Platform and cast their votes accordingly. It is also my responsibility to share with them the positive and negative feedback I receive from the grassroots base,” Brown wrote.
“In that spirit and vein, and specifically for those who voted for the $1.2T spending package, please hear me loud and clear: the base is mad as hell.”
A former rising star
LaTurner was once seen as a rising star in the Republican Party.
“I think most people would think of him as a young, very energetic go-getter on behalf of Kansans,” Kuckelman said. “Every time you’d see LaTurner at a political event he was full of energy, and really wanted to do great things for our state and our country”
He became the youngest member of the Kansas Senate in 2012, when he defeated former state Sen. Bob Marshall at the age of 24.
Five years later, former Gov. Sam Brownback appointed LaTurner as the Kansas State Treasurer, making him the youngest statewide office holder in the country at the time.
