Kansas 4th District congressional candidate Ron Estes, right, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and spent almost $120,000 in the final days of the campaign, signaling how scared they were in a race that should have never even been close. Kansas’ 4th District is not a microcosm of agitated America, nor is it the siren of Trump backlash coming in from the Midwest. That will provide a little bit better picture for Republican prospects – especially given the seat in Georgia was vacated by now-HHS Secretary Tom Price. “The Democratic base is fully mobilized and unlikely to be defused”, said one Republican House member who wanted to speak under anonymity.
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The election even drew Democrats who threw in with Trump last November, such as retired construction worker Alan Branum, 64.
And Estes’ struggles were also seen as a rebuke to unpopular Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback. “You play every game”, Pumpelly said.
In the run-up to election day, Republican strategists dumped on Estes campaign.
Tuesday’s vote was in a heavily Republican district where Trump won 60 percent of votes in November’s election.
Libertarian Chris Rockhold garnered 2 percent of the vote. The race pits one young, Democratic favorite – Jon Ossoff – against a number of viable Republican candidates, one of whom has a background in the GOP establishment, and another of whom seems to have captured the support of voters more in the Trump mold.
The first of the three special elections, a race in Kansas on Tuesday, was too close to call hours after the polls had closed.
While it is indeed true that the Democratic party isn’t particularly popular at the moment, Thompson’s campaign clearly suffered from a lack of exposure, something more money – even from the DNC – would have helped remedy. His public service career began when he served two terms as treasurer of Sedgwick County, which is home to Wichita.
The unofficial results were reported by the 17 county election officers in the 4th District on election night.
Both Republicans and Democrats are spinning furiously, but they’re both full of it. But on the morning after the election, it appears the president was savoring the unimpressive victory. Included among them was Belle Plaine homemaker Charlene Health, 52, who cast her vote for Estes.
The outcome was a major disappointment for Republicans in the traditionally red district.
Trump on Wednesday submitted a Tweet celebrating Estes’ victory.
Trump says “Ron Estes is running TODAY for Congress in the Great State of Kansas”.
Trump tells callers in the recording that Estes “needs your vote and needs it badly”.
Estes replaces Mike Pompeo, who left his seat earlier this year to take a job as Central Intelligence Agency director under new president Donald Trump.
But the race became surprisingly competitive and drove Republican leaders into a last minute push for Estes. Ted Cruz to help Estes eke out the victory.
Be Civil – It’s OK to have a difference in opinion but there’s no need to be a jerk.
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In reality, Republicans were so threatened by Thompson’s candidacy that in the final days of this election they pumped a whopping 0,000 into television ads.
