Watkins admits business claim was fake

National News

September 27, 2018 - 11:08 AM

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Republican candidate in a hotly contested Kansas congressional race acknowledged Wednesday that claims he made on the campaign trail about starting and expanding a small business in the Middle East are not accurate.

Steve Watkins, who is running against Democrat Paul Davis for the 2nd District seat in eastern Kansas, often cited his experience starting the small business as one of his strengths in the race. Democrats hope to pick up the seat, now held by retiring GOP Rep. Lynn Jenkin, even though President Donald Trump carried it by a wide margin in 2016.

“I got out of the military, started a small business and grew it from three people to 470 people. So I know what it’s like to have to sweat it and work to make payroll, to not take any salary so you can make ends meet,” Watkins told a Miami County GOP candidate forum in March.

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