GOP Wins House Seat In Kansas After Last-Minute Boost From Trump, Cruz

GOP congressional candidate in the 4th district Ron Estes votes at Holy Cross Lutheran Church. At right is his wife, Susan Estes. The special election Tuesday between Democrat James Thompson and Republican Ron Estes ... GOP congressional candidate in the 4th district Ron Estes votes at Holy Cross Lutheran Church. At right is his wife, Susan Estes. The special election Tuesday between Democrat James Thompson and Republican Ron Estes to fill the seat vacated by CIA Director Mike Pompeo is being watched across the nation for signs of a backlash against Republicans or waning support from Trump's supporters. (Jaime Green/The Wichita Eagle via AP) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

The Republican candidate won an open House seat in Kansas in a special election on Tuesday night after the GOP made a last-minute effort to hold the seat in a surprisingly close race.

Kansas state treasurer Ron Estes won the election by seven points over Democrat James Thompson. Estes will fill the House seat vacated by CIA chief Mike Pompeo.

Estes pulled off a win after Republicans panicked in the final week of the race when an internal poll showed Estes leading by just one point. The House Republicans’ campaign arm infused nearly $100,000 into the race in the final days. President Donald Trump recorded a robocall supporting Estes, and Sen. Ted Cruz campaigned for the Kansas Republican on Monday.

Though Estes secured the seat, he won the district by just seven points, whereas Trump won the district by 27 points in November.

Latest Livewire
125
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. You can’t fix stupid.

  2. Sedgwick county, the only urban county went blue.

    Local television is pointing out the cracks in the GOP wall.

  3. And what did the DNC contribute to help win this race? Nothing.

    They didn’t even try.

  4. I heard they were focused on the Georgia race which was closer, but still, we got a raw deal.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

119 more replies

Participants

Avatar for pluckyinky Avatar for ajaykalra Avatar for overreach_this Avatar for brooklyndweller Avatar for old_curmudgeon Avatar for mooster Avatar for blandsten Avatar for bluestatedon Avatar for terrymahoney Avatar for teenlaqueefa Avatar for becca656 Avatar for jimtoday Avatar for thepsyker Avatar for tomanjeri Avatar for 26degreesrising Avatar for captaincommonsense Avatar for califdemdreamer Avatar for tribalogical Avatar for georgeh Avatar for tsp Avatar for socalista Avatar for aiddon Avatar for loss_mentality Avatar for xophermichel

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: