Alva Review-Courier -

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The father of Republican congressional candidate Steve Watkins set up and funded a political action committee that's running a $64,000 ad campaign for his son.

Creating a PAC allows the father to skirt rules that would limit direct contributions to his son's candidacy for the open seat in Kansas' 2nd Congressional District, The Kansas City Star reported.

Watkins is one of seven candidates seeking the GOP nomination.

Records filed with the Federal Election Commission this week show that the sole donor to the Kansans Can Do Anything political action committee is Dr. Steven Watkins.

The elder Watkins, of Topeka, donated $100,000 days after the PAC's formation. He confirmed he set it up as a way to support his son's campaign.

"If my son didn't share my beliefs in the importance of the Constitution ... I wouldn't contribute a dime to him even though I love him with all my heart," he said.

The PAC began airing television ads last week in support of the younger Watkins' candidacy in the Republican primary to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Lynn Jenkins.

Watkins' campaign did not directly answer a question about whether the candidate knew his father had set up the PAC.

"While Steve welcomes the support of anyone who shares his values, his sole focus has always been on our campaign, not independent efforts or outside groups," the campaign said in a written statement.

The phenomenon has become increasingly common in the years since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision that upended campaign finance restrictions, said Brendan Fischer, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center's federal reform program.

The ruling enabled individual donors to spend unlimited amounts of money through super PACs, and that has allowed wealth families to make a "mockery of our campaign finance laws," Fischer said.

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This story has been corrected to reflect that the name of the PAC is Kansans Can Do Anything.