Republican state Rep. Carl Maughan of Colwich on Thursday night suddenly announced that he would end his reelection campaign for the Kansas House following a car crash last weekend.
“For personal and family reasons, I will be terminating my campaign for re-election as state representative for District 90,” Maughan posted on Facebook.
“I will complete my term and remain active in politics in order to continue to serve our state and nation in whatever small way that I can,” he posted.
Maughan could not be reached for comment late Thursday night.
Attention has already turned to the possibility that former longtime Republican state Rep. Steve Huebert would run for the seat.
Earlier this month, Shawnee County prosecutors charged Maughan with driving under influence stemming from a police traffic stop last March in Topeka.
The charge, which Maughan had anticipated, was filed May 8.
His next court appearance is June 26.
He had already been charged with possession of a firearm while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, unsafe turning or stopping for alleged failure to give a proper signal and failure to check for safe passage before passing from a single lane, court records show.
However, authorities said early Thursday that Maughan had been involved in another incident involving a vehicle last weekend.
A spokesperson for the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office told the Sunflower State Journal on Thursday afternoon that Maughan had been involved in a single-vehicle injury accident last Saturday night in Colwich.
The crash occurred at or near the intersection of West 29th Street North and 151st Street West, said spokesperson Hannah Abou-Faissal. The crash occurred at 7:36 p.m., she said.
Abou-Faissal said the crash was still under investigation and no other details were immediately available. It was unknown how seriously Maughan had been injured.
Maughan, a lawyer, also faces trouble in the courtroom where he could lose his law license.
The Wichita Eagle reported that Maughan faced a yearlong suspension of his law license after being accused of misconduct while representing a client in a deadly 2016 crash in Wichita that claimed two lives.
The case was recently heard before the Kansas Supreme Court.
A client in that case has also filed a lawsuit against Maughan in Sedgwick County District Court alleging legal malpractice.
Doubt about Maughan’s fitness to serve in the Legislature started to emerge after word of the weekend car crash started circulating in political circles.
One candidate, Darren Pugh, had filed to run for the seat but few political insiders knew much about him.
Talk has already turned to Huebert of Valley Center running for the reliably Republican seat, which represents all or parts of Colwich, Maize, Park City, Valley Center and Wichita.
Huebert confirmed late Thursday night that he was considering a run for the seat that he represented from 2001 to 2023.
He said he hoped to make a decision by Friday morning.
Huebert is well known to Republican leaders compared to Pugh, who very few knew anything about and what he would bring to the Capitol.
Republican Derek Schmidt carried this district with about 59% of the vote in the 2022 governor’s race. Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly won 38% of the vote here.
The constitutional amendment on abortion won in this district with 54% of the vote.
