As the GOP tries to retain its slim majority in the U.S. House of Representatives after a string of retirements and one expulsion, another congressman—Rep. Jake LaTurner (R-Kan.)—announced on April 18 that he would not seek reelection in November.
Unlike Reps Ken Buck (R-Colo.) and Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), who have stepped down or will do so before the fall, Mr. LaTurner will finish his term in the House.
“The busy schedule of serving in and running for Congress has taken a toll,” the congressman said in a statement, as he and his wife, Suzanne, now have four young children.
“The unrepeatable season of life we are in, where our kids are still young and at home, is something I want to be more present for.”
Mr. LaTurner’s House tenure began in 2021 when he defeated former Rep. Steve Watkins (R-Kan.) in a primary. This came after Shawnee County District Attorney Michael Kagay charged Mr. Watkins with three felony counts of voter fraud. Mr. Watkins denied the allegations and labeled them “politically motivated.”
“[T]he current dysfunction on Capitol Hill is distressing,” Mr. LaTurner said, but he feels “the vast majority of people I have served with are good and trying to do the right thing.”
He said working in the House has been the “professional honor of my life” but that it is time to pursue “other opportunities” while being present for his growing family.
Before entering Congress, Mr. LaTurner served as a Kansas state senator from 2013 to 2017 and then as the Kansas state treasurer from 2017 to 2021. Not only will he not run for reelection in 2024, he will pass on the 2026 election, too, he said.
Many Republicans are concerned about their evaporating majority in the House of Representatives. After Mr. Gallagher’s retirement, their caucus holds a single-vote majority, but Mr. LaTurner said he would stay on long enough to support a foreign aid package recently introduced by House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Even though Mr. LaTurner is not leaving his seat prematurely and affecting the current GOP majority, he is yet another in a long string of Republican representatives stepping away from Congress amid the chaos and infighting that has engulfed their caucus since early 2023.
Motions to Vacate
Tensions were heightened in October 2023 when a group of eight Republicans led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and the entire Democratic caucus voted to oust House Speaker Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), resulting in his early retirement.In March, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) introduced an unprivileged motion to vacate against the new house speaker after Mr. Johnson worked with Democrats to pass the $1.2 trillion spending package to fund the government and avert a shutdown.
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) joined Ms. Greene on April 16 in supporting her motion to vacate and called on Mr. Johnson to resign.
“I just told Mike Johnson in conference that I’m cosponsoring the motion to vacate that was introduced by @RepMTG. He should pre-announce his resignation (as Boehner did), so we can pick a new Speaker without ever being without a GOP Speaker,” Mr. Massie wrote in a post on the social platform X on April 16.
“Speaker Johnson is plowing forward with $100 billion in security assistance for other countries while breaking his promise to Americans that our border would come first,” Mr. Massie wrote in another X post on April 18.
During a House leadership press conference on April 16, Mr. Johnson said he would not resign as speaker.
Mr. LaTurner did not mention any specific political reasons for his retirement but emphasized his optimism despite the discord in Congress.
“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,” he said.
It’s also not clear if Ms. Greene’s motion to vacate affected his decision. However, many Republicans, including those who voted to remove Mr. McCarthy, have signaled they would not do the same to Mr. Johnson.
“If we vacate this speaker, we'll end up with a Democrat speaker,” Mr. Gaetz told reporters in late March.
“If we were to kick him out, you might as well just give the gavel to Hakeem,” said Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), referring to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).
Kansas Congressional Primary
Now that Mr. LaTurner is not seeking reelection, his seat in Kansas’s 2nd congressional district is up for grabs in November. It is rated “solid Republican” by the Cook Political Report.The primary is on Aug. 6, and currently, Joseph Swain and Eli Woody IV are running for the Democratic ticket. No other Republicans have yet announced their candidacy.
Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.) praised Mr. LaTurner for his work both in the state of Kansas and Congress after he announced his retirement.
“I commend Rep. LaTurner for his strong dedication to Kansas and appreciate his partnership on critical issues like affordable housing, broadband access, and flood prevention,” she said.
“Together, we also emphasized the cultural significance of the Quindaro Townsite and successfully secured federal investments to help repair the Cesar Chavez bridge, a vital roadway in our community. I wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
