Watkins had one of the strangest careers of any Kansas politician. Emerged from obscurity to narrowly a district, battled rumors he was resigned and then went down for an easily avoidable and self-inflicted scandal. kansascity.com/news/politics-…
Full history will take a lot of tweets, but here I go. Watkins met with Democrats before he decided to run as a Republican. kansascity.com/news/politics-…
When he decided to run as a Republican it was as a Trump-style Republican saying "Drain the swamp." But he didn't actually vote in the 2016 election. Or any election before running for Congress. mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-…
His dad launched the amazingly titled Kansans Can Do Anything PAC, which helped him win a crowded primary in 2018 despite widespread condemnation from GOP county chairs. kansascity.com/news/politics-…
.@AP uncovered that he had inflated heroism claims apnews.com/be1b8901aba545… and @KCStar revealed that he had inflated his business credentials kansascity.com/news/local/new…
GOP activists in the state were ready to primary him next cycle before he had even won the general election mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-…
He narrowly won in 2018 by less than 1 percentage point after a presidential visit and millions of spending by GOP groups. kansascity.com/news/politics-…
I'm going to skip ahead b/c I'm getting tired, but about eight months into his first term Watkins became the subject of a bizarre whisper campaign that he was going to resign. kansascity.com/news/politics-…
Cut to December of that year, @TimVCarpenter dropped this monster story about the scandal that would eventually take Watkins down. Which wasn't the one being whispered about cjonline.com/news/20191203/…
Around the same time, I had been looking into Watkins' campaign's mounting legal fees, which I heard were related to an FEC inquiry. The congressman's father confirmed that months later. kansascity.com/news/politics-…
The FEC matter remains unresolved without a quorum at the commission. But as you're aware, the Shawnee County matter is just heating up. Not only was he charged, but he was charged in the most dramatic way possible -- 30 minutes before a televised debate. kansascity.com/news/politics-…
Watkins has denied wrongdoing, but his explanations have been unusual, including when he told me last week that his voter registration form had been a "collegial effort" by his office. kansascity.com/news/politics-…
