photo by: Associated Press

In this Sept. 5, 2017, photo, the Capitol is seen in Washington. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Topeka’s mayor might run for Kansas’ 2nd District seat in Congress, according to Lawrence-area legislators and news organizations in Topeka.

The mayor, Michelle De La Isla, would be the only Democrat running for the spot in the 2020 race. Previously, Abbie Hodgson, of Lawrence, filed to run, but she dropped out in mid-October because of insufficient funding.

Multiple Lawrence legislators, all of whom are Democrats, mentioned De La Isla as the only name they’ve heard as a possible candidate for the spot.

According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, in mid-November, De La Isla said her prior “no” to the request to run had turned into a “let me look into it.” And according to a December article from KSNT, the Topeka NBC-affiliate, De La Isla said she would not make a final decision on the race until after Jan. 1.

Lawrence Reps. Dennis “Boog” Highberger and Eileen Horn, both Democrats, said they were concerned that the Democratic Party did not yet have a candidate for the congressional race.

“We should be able to put up a candidate,” Horn said of the Democratic Party. She said she hoped the Kansas Democratic Party was having serious discussions about candidates.

The Kansas Democratic Party did not respond to the Journal-World’s request for comment on Monday.

Lawrence Democratic Rep. Mike Amyx said he was not concerned and that he thought the Democratic Party would find a good candidate.

“It’s still awfully early,” he said.

On the other side of the aisle, incumbent Steve Watkins will be running against State Treasurer Jake LaTurner. Watkins has recently come under fire for listing a UPS Inc. store as his address on a voter registration form. Watkins’ spokesman said the UPS address was an inadvertent mistake, but authorities plan to investigate whether Watkins broke state law. He obtained a mail-in ballot for the Nov. 5 election, which included local races and a state ballot question.

Some Republicans believe Watkins is not a strong enough incumbent. LaTurner was asked to run for Congress by former Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer. Prior to that, LaTurner was planning to run for outgoing Sen. Pat Roberts’ seat in the U.S. Senate, but he dropped his bid to run against Watkins.

None of the six Lawrence-area representatives the Lawrence Journal-World reached for comment said they were considering a run.

State Sen. Marci Francisco said she had received questions as to whether she’d run. If LaTurner were to win the primary, however, Francisco would be facing an opponent to whom she has already lost.

Francisco ran against LaTurner for state treasurer in 2018.

“It doesn’t make sense for me to go back to the same voters,” she said.