The political punditry has been rumbling about the race to replace Mike Pompeo, now the CIA Director, who had occupied the Representative’s seat for Kansas District #4, generally considered to be a safe GOP seat. In fact, Pompeo had won it with more than 60% of the vote the three times he’s run for the seat, the last being the 2016 cycle (Ballotpedia).
I haven’t run across any recent public polls of the current replacement race between GOPer Ron Estes (winner of two previous statewide elections) and Democrat James Thompson, apparently with little political experience, but the Wichita Eagle notes signs of panic in the Kansas GOP:
National Republicans are wading into a Kansas congressional race few analysts thought would be competitive ahead of Tuesday’s vote.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas will join Republican candidate Ron Estes at an airport rally Monday in Wichita, a day before voters in southern Kansas head to the polls to pick a new congressman. Vice President Mike Pence is also scheduled to record a robocall on Estes’ behalf, according to a state party official.
Cruz’s appearance comes on the heels of last-minute spending on television ads by the National Republican Congressional Committee and a fundraising push by U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin on Estes’ behalf.
Parties often run private polls, and perhaps the GOP is unhappy with some private results. For me, it’ll be a fascinating insight into how much damage has been dealt the Republican brand. The first source is, of course, Trump, who has wallowed about, failed to run a competent Administration, and then lied about it. His one success has been the completion of the nomination of Gorsuch to SCOTUS.
But, quite possibly more damaging, has been the activities of the House GOP members. Representative Nunes forced to recuse himself from the Russian investigation; Representative Chaffetz trying to sell off public lands; and Speaker of the House Ryan failing spectacularly not only in his political job of ramming through the retraction of the ACA, but even in having a basic understanding of the workings of insurance. These visible lessons in how ideological extremists behave may be a learning moment for voters who consider themselves conservatives – and are discovering those who claimed to fellow conservatives are actually extremists.
But this is all hypothetical. Perhaps Estes will also win 60+% of the vote. Perhaps Estes has a reputation as a moderate. Whatever the result, a lesson will be learned by someone. And by me.
