Republicans are making a last-ditch effort to maintain the House seat in Kansas vacated by CIA Director Mike Pompeo, with President Donald Trump recording a robocall for the Republican candidate, state treasurer Ron Estes.
The special election taking place on Tuesday has unexpectedly tightened, with an internal Republican poll showing Estes leading the race by just one point last week, according to the Kansas City Star. He’s running against Democrat James Thompson and Libertarian Chris Rockhold.
As Republicans panicked on Monday, the Cook Political Report moved the seat from “Likely Republican” to “Lean Republican” to reflect concerns that the GOP could lose a district it has held for more than two decades.
Trump recorded a robocall supporting Estes, which went out to “tens of thousands,” according to the Kansas Republican Party.
“On Tuesday, Republican Ron Estes needs your vote and needs it badly. Ron is a conservative leader who’s going to work with me to make America great again,” Trump says on the call.
Trump followed up with a tweet Tuesday morning urging his supporters to vote for Estes:
Ron Estes is running TODAY for Congress in the Great State of Kansas. A wonderful guy, I need his help on Healthcare & Tax Cuts (Reform).
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 11, 2017
Vice President Mike Pence has also recently recorded a call for Estes, per the Wichita Eagle. And Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) campaigned for the Republican candidate in Kansas on Monday. The National Republican Congressional Committee, House Republicans’ campaign arm, has infused nearly $100,000 into the race in its final days, per CNN.
Thompson has also seen a surge of donations, helped by a campaign from ActBlue, the Huffington Post reported. And while the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the House Democrats’ campaign arm, had been staying out of the race, the committee began running get out the vote calls to 25,000 households Monday, according to the same report.
