In this March 23, 2017, photo, Democrat James Thompson, a candidate for Kansas' 4th Congressional District, speaks during a debate in Wichita, Kan. But with other special elections looming, it's worth reinforcing how dramatically bad such a shift would be for Republicans nationally.
Yes, Democrats came closer than they ever should have in the 4th District.
The special election was closely watched for any anti-Trump backlash against Republicans.
Republican state Treasurer Ron Estes will represent Kansas' 4th Congressional District, replacing Mike Pompeo, whom Trump named as Central Intelligence Agency director.
But liberal groups said the fact that the race was so close - Mr. Trump won the district by 27 percentage points previous year - shows voters are tiring of the GOP, which now controls both houses of Congress as well as the White House. Pompeo won re-election in November by 31 points.
"Republicans nationally should be very anxious", said Bob Beatty, a Washburn University political scientist. "It's remarkable that Thompson got this close".
The Kansas election was the first of four special elections to fill seats in the House of Representatives - where Republicans now hold a 237-193 majority- to replace Republicans who took top jobs in the Trump administration. On Monday, Republican Rep. Joe Wilson of SC, who shouted "You Lie!" at President Barack Obama during a 2009 health care speech, heard chants of the same phrase at a town hall from constituents angry about health care and his voting record on violence against women. There are three more special elections to fill vacancies created by departing Republican congressmen: Tom Price of Georgia, now Secretary of Health and Human Services; Ryan Zinke of Montana, now Secretary of the Interior; and Mick Mulvaney of SC, now director of the Office of Management and Budget. Ossoff is counting on opposition to Trump to propel him to a decisive victory.
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Brownback, who has treated the state government as a testing ground for ultra-right policies, had already alienated working people by slashing taxes repeatedly for business and the wealthy, while cutting $180 million from the state budget, plundering highway construction funds and raising sales taxes twice to make up for budget shortfalls. On March 30, Brownback vetoed a bill that would have expanded Medicaid eligibility for low-income residents.
"I said, you know, the race ran well", Estes said.
"I can't stand Brownback", she said as she left her polling site in Belle Plaine.
On Monday, Estes had another influential GOP name stumping for him - Texas Sen.
David Carron, a 50-year-old Republican from Belle Plaine, showed up to vote in his Army uniform. Trump said in a tweet Wednesday morning. "I finally did. I realized this was important". It's the most populous county in the district and voters there went blue for the first time in decades.
Estes handily won the district's rural counties. Until the closing days, the national party didn't appear to spend a dime on the Kansas special election (we'll know for sure when the final finance reports are out). The 46-year-old political newcomer was backed by Our Revolution, a political action group with roots in Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign.
Thompson announced he will run again in 2018. "It closed a little bit when some of the concerns about the health-care bill not passing came through, and so we got a big push out there".
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