Steve Watkins, political newcomer, carries GOP hopes in 2nd District

photo by: Associated Press

Steve Watkins addresses the crowd during a campaign rally held by President Donald Trump Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, in Topeka, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

TOPEKA – One year ago, few people in the Kansas political world had ever heard of Steve Watkins.

A native of Topeka, Watkins had served in the United States Army since graduating high school in 1995, first as a cadet at West Point, and later stationed in Alaska and deployed in Afghanistan.

In fact, it was widely reported that he had never even voted in Kansas until he returned in 2017, registered to vote, and then filed to run as a Republican in the 2nd District congressional race.

Less than a year later, on Oct. 6, Watkins stood on a stage at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka and, in front of a crowd of more than 10,000 enthusiastic Republicans, shook the hand of President Donald Trump, who had come to Kansas to endorse him.

“Surreal,” Watkins said of that experience during an interview a few days later.

“For me, a simple Topeka kid, I’m still in the heart and mind, in some ways, still a student at Whitson or French or Topeka West,” he said of the elementary, middle and high schools he attended. “And for me to then be there (with the president), that was exciting.

“But what’s more significant than my emotions surrounding the event was the significance to Republicans and Kansans, and to the country, that this district matters and these races matter,” Watkins said.

Watkins emerged as the surprising victor in a hotly contested GOP primary in which he fended off a field of more seasoned politicians, including three sitting state senators, a sitting state representative and a former speaker of the Kansas House.

But he emerged with only 27 percent of the Republican vote, and he faced a skeptical Republican Party establishment in the district whose leaders were slow to embrace him as one of their own, even after the primary.

Now, Watkins is locked in a tight race with another seasoned politician, former Kansas House Democratic Leader Paul Davis, of Lawrence, in a district that most nonpartisan political handicappers have rated as a toss-up in the 2018 midterm elections.

Early life and career

Watkins, 42, grew up in Topeka, the son of a physician. After graduating from Topeka West High School, he attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he majored in engineering. He continued serving in the Army until 2005. After leaving, he joined an engineering firm that contracts with the Defense Department.

In his private life, he has also been an adventurer who tried to become the first person to scale Mount Everest and finish Alaska’s Iditarod dog sled race in the same year.

The details of those experiences, however, have been called into question. In September, the Kansas City Star reported that Watkins had exaggerated his role at the engineering firm VIAP Inc.

And earlier this month, the Associated Press reported that many of the details of his adventuring exploits had been greatly embellished.

In an interview, Watkins vehemently denied those reports.

“The content of those articles is simply not true, and the motivation behind them was not to inform the readers, but rather to tip the scales of the outcome of the election,” he said.

The Kansas City Star article examined Watkins’ repeated claim that he “started a small business and grew it from three people to 470 people.” In the article, Watkins confirmed that he never owned the company, and when he talked of helping to start and grow the company, he was referring to work he did to create processes, systems and products for the company.

On the issues

As a political newcomer, Watkins has staked out some strong positions in a few key policy areas. He defines himself as a staunch opponent of abortion. He supports Second Amendment gun rights.

As a veteran, Watkins says he would also be a strong supporter of the military and that he would work to improve veterans’ access to health care services.

He is also a strong supporter of Trump’s agenda, including his plan to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. But he said he wouldn’t necessarily march in lock-step with the administration.

“I call balls and strikes on President Trump,” he said. “I like what I like, which includes great economic growth; record low unemployment, particularly among African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans.”

“I also applaud his record on the international stage, particularly with regards to security, particularly in regards to North Korea and Iran,” he added. “And I like his judicial appointments. So there’s a lot that I’m very pleased at.”

“When looking for things we may disagree with, trade comes to mind. Tariffs come to mind,” Watkins said. “I talk to farmers every day, and they want customers, they don’t want handouts.”

On other matters, though, Watkins admitted that he has a lot to learn about federal government policy, such as the president’s authority to impose foreign trade tariffs unilaterally when he believes national security interests are at stake.

“I would like to see the government function as it’s designed,” he said. “But what I don’t bring to the fight is a wealth of experience. When it comes to process, I’m off. And my supporters know that. And so I look forward to working with subject matter experts to gain a more developed opinion on the topic.”

On Social Security, Watkins said during a candidate forum in southeast Kansas recently that he believes the program is unsustainable in its current form and that people of his generation and younger should prepare for the fact that they won’t see the same type of benefits that older generations will receive.

During an interview, though, he said that might not necessarily mean smaller benefits, but “potentially different benefits.”

“That could take a couple of shapes,” he said. “It could take the shape of the age at which you receive benefits. There are a few different ways to tweak the variables, but it’s unsustainable on its current course.”

Watkins also said he is not opposed to exploring the idea of privatizing the Social Security system.

“As a general matter, I’m not opposed to privatizing government functions,” he said. “We’ve seen services improved from the perspective of customers. Privatizing functions often requires these companies to operate in the black, with a greater focus on customer service and efficiency. I’ve been involved in the public sector and the private sector and I have an incredible amount of respect with the way that private industry needs to operate in order to survive.”

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