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The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, and Carolyn Fiddler, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Leading Off
●KS-02: On Friday, the Topeka Capital-Journal published a story in which a woman named Chelsea Scarlett accused Republican Steve Watkins of sexual misconduct 12 years ago.
Campaign ActionScarlett told the paper that she was in a room alone with Watkins when he "locked the door, put his hands on her and made unwanted sexual advances." She says she didn't report the incident at the time because she feared losing her job as a contractor at Fort Richardson, an Army base in Alaska where Watkins was stationed at the time. However, Scarlett says she decided to speak out now because Watkins, whom she called a "predator," could wind up in Congress, where he would "do things to young girls in those offices because they’re cute and vulnerable."
Watkins campaign responded by calling the allegations part of "another round of second-hand, third-hand and anonymous ‘sources’ pushing Brett Kavanaugh-style destruction politics," and added the charges "are so preposterous they don’t deserve the dignity of a response or publication, but Republicans face this kind of assault from the media every day." Watkins faces a stiff fight against Democrat Paul Davis for this red but competitive open seat.