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Kansas state treasurer running for US Senate seat in 2020

January 9, 2019 GMT

FILE - In this April 18, 2017, file photo, state Sen. Jake LaTurner, left, R-Pittsburg, speaks to reporters after his appointment as state treasurer by Gov. Sam Brownback, right, during a news conference at the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. LaTurner announced Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019, he is running for the U.S. Senate in 2020. He declared his candidacy for the Republican nomination, less than a week after four-term GOP Sen. Pat Roberts announced that he will not run for re-election. (AP Photo/John Hanna, File)

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas State Treasurer Jake LaTurner is running for the U.S. Senate in 2020.

LaTurner declared his candidacy Tuesday for the Republican nomination, less than a week after four-term GOP Sen. Pat Roberts announced that he will not run for re-election.

The 30-year-old LaTurner said Kansas needs both a conservative and generational change in the Senate. He issued a “Contract with Kansas” that includes support for congressional term limits and work requirements for welfare recipients.

He is the first candidate to announce, but several other prominent Republicans have said they are considering the race. They include departing Gov. Jeff Colyer, Attorney General Derek Schmidt, Rep. Roger Marshall and American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp.

LaTurner has been state treasurer since April 2017 after serving four years in the state Senate.

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This story has been corrected to show that LaTurner is 30, not 31.