Kansas state Treasurer Ron Estes (R) won a special election in the state's 4th congressional district on Tuesday, The Associated Press projects, narrowly beating Democrat James Thompson in a heavily Republican district that includes Wichita, the headquarters of Koch Industries, and hasn't elected a Democrat since 1992. The seat was vacated by Mike Pompeo, the new CIA director, who won re-election in November by 31 percentage points; Estes is expected to win by about 5 points.
This was the first congressional race since Trump's electoral victory, and Trump and Vice President Mike Pence both recorded campaign robocalls for Estes in the race's final days, while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) made a last-minute campaign stop and the the National Republican Congressional Committee poured $100,000 into the race in the final week. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee barely put any money in the race, and it and the Democratic National Committee are facing some criticism for sitting it out.
The narrow victory is seen as a warning sign for Republicans, though Gov. Sam Brownback (R) is deeply unpopular and was seen as a drag on Estes. The next big test will be a special election in Georgia's 6th district, where Democrat Jon Ossoff is currently leading a field of Republicans to fill the seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
The 8 best sci-fi series of all timethe week recommends Imagining — and fearing — the future continues to give us compelling and thoughtful television
-
The Trump administration’s plans to dismantle the Department of EducationThe Explainer The president aims to fulfill his promise to get rid of the agency
-
‘These attacks rely on a political repurposing’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
