Jake LaTurner Biography: Age, Wife, and Leadership

Jake LaTurner Biography (Introduction): Born in 1988, Jacob Andrew Joseph LaTurner is a prominent American politician who represented Kansas’s 2nd congressional district in the US Congress from 2021 to 2025. From 2013 to 2017, he served as the state senator for the 13th district and the 40th Kansas State Treasurer. LaTurner became the youngest statewide official in the country after his prestigious appointment as Kansas State Treasurer by Governor Sam Brownback.

He briefly campaigned for the Senate in 2020 but opted to run for the House of Representatives in Kansas’s 2nd congressional district. He won the crucial general election against Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla, defeating incumbent Representative Steve Watkins in the primary election. In April 2024, LaTurner said he would not seek re-election.

Jake LaTurner Biography

LaTurner, a native of Galena, Kansas, received a distinguished bachelor’s degree in political science from Pittsburg State University. Jake LaTurner married Suzanne Van Gotten in 2009 and they have 4 children. He worked for former Kansas Treasurer and Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins and is currently enrolled in the prestigious master’s degree at the Naval War College.

After losing to Republican Senator Bob Marshall in the 2008 District 13 primary election, he triumphantly defeated him in a 2012 rematch and became the youngest member of the Kansas Senate at the age of 24. LaTurner drafted influential legislation to impose term limits on state legislators, reform the process for requesting public records, and combat nepotism.

He faced considerable opposition from Republican Speaker Ray Merrick and Senate Democratic leader Anthony Hensley. In 2015, he sponsored legislation allowing Kansas adults to carry concealed weapons without a permit.

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Kansas State Treasurer: Record-Breaking Leadership

LaTurner became the country’s youngest official when he was chosen as Kansas state treasurer by Governor Sam Brownback in 2017. One of his main duties was overseeing Kansas’s unclaimed property worth more than $350 million. He completed a remarkable 105-county tour and returned more than $10 million worth of unclaimed property, totaling more than $25.5 million.

LaTurner also strategically administered the Kansas Learning Quest 529 Education Savings and ABLE Savings Programs, which assisted residents in saving for their future. In his first year, he implemented innovative changes to the programs that allowed individuals with disabilities to transfer money saved in a 529 account to their ABLE account for K-12 education tuition.

U.S. House of Representatives and legislative tenure

In the highly competitive 2020 House of Representatives elections, Republican Representative Steve Watkins faced serious controversies, including allegations of exaggerating his occupation, missing crucial votes, voting fraud, and sexual misconduct. Former Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer encouraged LaTurner to challenge Watkins for the seat, leading LaTurner to end his Senate campaign in September 2019.

Watkins was elected by a margin of less than 1% in 2018. LaTurner strategically moved $470,000 in cash from his Senate campaign to his House campaign, giving him a powerful edge over Watkins. In August 2020, LaTurner decisively defeated Watkins in the Republican primary and faced Democratic Topeka Mayor Michelle De La Isla in the November 3 general election.

In January 2021, LaTurner voted to uphold the objection to Arizona’s electoral votes but was unable to vote on the objection to Pennsylvania’s electoral votes due to COVID-19 testing. In April 2024, LaTurner announced that he would not seek re-election to the House of Representatives.

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