Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay announced he was charging Watkins, a first-term lawmaker, on four counts: interference with law enforcement, providing false information; voting without being qualified; unlawful advance voting; and failing to notify the DMV of change of address, according to Shawnee County court records.
First three charges are felonies, the fourth is a misdemeanor.
Most likely, Watkins will lose the already heavily contested Republican primary and this seat is considered a major pickup opportunity for Democrats.
Watkins won this seat with a minority in 2018. Under Republican Party rules, Watkins automatically loses all committee assignments upon his indictment.
Watkins first term appears to be his last.
Watkins entire Congressional service has amounted to a giant cluster â– â– â– â– â–
"Give us a break. 30 minutes before the first televised debate and the day before early voting starts, the DA - who shares a political consultant with our primary opponent Jake LaTurner - files these bogus charges. They couldn’t have been more political if they tried," Watkins spokesman Bryan Piligra said in a statement.
It doesn’t appear that Watkins has benefited himself in any way in what’s being labeled “voter fraud”? I always look at the risk/reward of every decision and in this case, the risk is what happened and there was no reward…financial or otherwise that I can tell. I call…bull feces.
What was important about them? He could vote in a local election?
reportedly registered the address of a Topeka UPS store as his home address for the 2019 municipal election and allegedly voted in the wrong city council district.
Oooooooooooooooh…this is baaa, baaa, baaad…amirite?
Not yet. This happened some time ago but is only now being charged…a few minutes before a political event is going on stage? I’d say that is worse? If there’s a crime, cite it. If you’re doing it for political reasons only, you are abusing the law and I consider that much worse? How about you?
Yes. Now I must also ask, what was the address of the UPS building and what is his correct physical address? Is it close? Is it an honest mistake? The article didn’t provide that information and I have to wonder…why not? What it did provide was the timing. What it also provided was that he didn’t gain squat. It’s not like he got money or something else of value from this?
"Authorities said last December that Watkins changed his residency in August 2019 for voter registration purposes, signed an application for a mail-in ballot in October 2019 and signed a document to cast his vote for the 2019 general election in November. The documents showed Watkins’ official residence as 6021 S.W. 29th in Topeka, which is the site of a UPS Store.
By changing his residency, Watkins moved from the Topeka City Council’s 5th District to its 8th District, where he participated in an election that was decided by 13 votes in November 2019."
“Jim Joice, Watkins’ chief of staff, said last December that Watkins made a mistake when he listed the UPS Store as his address. Joice said Watkins actually lived in the Overlook Apartments, 1310 S.W. Overlook, which are about 2½ miles north of the UPS Store. Those apartments are in the city council’s 9th District.”
