'We're not going to be in this season forever,' says outgoing Rep. Jake LaTurner

WASHINGTON — It wasn’t too long ago that the big question about Jake LaTurner’s political career was just how high he could go. He won a Kansas state Senate seat in his 20s, and then the treasurer’s race at 30, making him the nation’s youngest statewide elected official. He joined the House two years later, scored a coveted Appropriations Committee appointment and seemed to be on a glide path to the top.

Now LaTurner is heading for the exits, saying he’d rather spend time with his family than on “ridiculous” intraparty squabbling.

“I’m a very conservative Republican who understands that you can’t get 100% of what you want 100% of the time, and so that requires that you actually act as a legislator and build coalitions around ideas and get them passed and allow the normal process to work,” he said in an interview earlier this month as he served out his second and final term in the House.

LaTurner isn’t shutting the door on running again one day, when his kids are older. But, for now, he’s hoping Congress, and politics in general, will improve while he’s away. “We’re in a season right now, and it’s a season of being very divided,” he said.

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Question: You were a rising star in Kansas politics. You serve on the Appropriations Committee. Why leave now?

Answer: I didn’t consider it until we had the speaker fight in October of last year. I had thoughts of, “Why am I missing out on so many things with my family and out here having ridiculous fights?” And so that started the process, and just slowly, over the next several months, I began to really take stock of things. My kids are 13, 12, 10 and 8. My oldest is in the eighth grade, and in four short years she’s going to be gone, and I will have missed a lot of it. So that didn’t sit well.

I’m 20 years younger than the average age of a member of the House. So if later in life I decide I can contribute, that’s an option down the road. But for the short term, at least, I just think I will have fewer regrets being fully engaged in my kids’ life.

I don’t have judgment for anyone that’s making it work. Everybody’s different. But what I discovered was, of course, it sucks to miss a game that your kid’s playing in. What’s really the worst is missing the bedtime routine and getting up in the morning, getting them to school, missing the mundane.

Q: What do you think is the root cause of the dysfunction you saw in the speaker fights?

A: Well, it’s really important to me that the institution stays intact as much as humanly possible, because it’s got to continue to survive. There’s clearly a market for dysfunction, saying the craziest thing you can think of on social media so you can get on cable news and fundraise off of it. (But) I also think there is a much bigger market for getting things done.

A big frustration of mine coming from a state legislative background is that that process still works there. Bills get introduced and referred to the committee of jurisdiction and receive hearings. And then it goes to the floor, and anyone can stand up and speak to a bill, anyone can offer an amendment on a bill. All you have to do is convince the majority of your colleagues that it’s a good idea and it can pass on the floor as well, and so that kind of environment rewards putting your head down and working. It’s just a lot better model.

Q: How could Congress be more like that?

A: Power is more decentralized with leadership today than it has been in a very long time, which is a good thing. But the process needs to be opened up more. And the result of that would be, I predict, that people will start to hustle to get their constituents’ work done. It doesn’t mean you’re going to win every time, but it does mean that you get a fair shot.

Q: You are a proponent of term limits, but some would say it takes a while to understand how things work in Congress.

A: I think term limits are a good idea. You shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, though. You’ve got to figure out the right amount of time, because I am sympathetic to those arguments that it takes a little time to get your feet underneath you. It is important to have people with institutional knowledge of the place, but on the flip side, when you have people that have served for many decades, they become entrenched. The process works well for them, but it doesn’t seem to be working really well for the American people, and so having a new crop of folks is not a bad thing. I don’t know what the perfect number is. I don’t know if it’s 12 years, but I’m open to the debate.

Q: You’ve said you are leaving optimistic. Why is that?

A: Well, in our history, we’ve been through tougher times than this. We’re in a season right now, and it’s a season of being very divided. It’s this season where unsavory things are rewarded, and we’re not going to be in this season forever and the republic is going to survive. And, you know, we’ve been through a lot worse, and so I feel very optimistic. This is a great country, and it’s hard for me to see what the advantage of being pessimistic is.

Q: What are you proudest of from your two terms in Congress, and do you have any regrets?

A: You always, in hindsight, wish you had done something different when you lose something that you’ve been working on. You replay it in your brain. So some of that stuff, but no big ones.

I’m really proud of some of the projects I’ve been able to get done for my district, and also to have been involved with getting money in the State and Foreign Operations bill for RUTF, ready-to-use therapeutic food. It saves kids that are dying from starvation across the globe. It’s an American-made product, from the packaging down to all the ingredients, and the U.S. government has been doing this for a long time. We just need to get that bill across the finish line.

Q: You’re 36 years old. What’s next for you? Another run for office?

A: You know, I think elective office could be in my future. But for the short term, it’s going back home and spending more time with my family.