Steve Watkins

BIO: Steve Watkins is a Republican representing Kansas’ 2nd congressional district. The Afghanistan veteran was sworn into office on Jan. 3, 2019.

Watkins’ father served in the Air Force, and he also gravitated toward military service. He earned an engineering degree from West Point and a master’s from both MIT and Harvard before deploying to Afghanistan in 2004, where he was stationed at Forward Operating Base Salerno near the Pakistan border.

He has talked publicly about being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder upon re-entering civilian life. Before entering politics, Watkins worked as a contractor for Versar Inc., a Virginia-based global project management firm.

He has also competed in the Iditarod sled-dog race and participated in an expedition to climb Mt. Everest.