2017 Kansas's 4th congressional district special election
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Kansas's 4th congressional district | |||||||||||||||||
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A special election was held on April 11, 2017, to determine the member of the United States House of Representatives for Kansas's 4th congressional district after the incumbent, Mike Pompeo, was nominated by President Donald Trump as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and confirmed by the United States Senate.
Pompeo resigned on January 23, 2017. Governor Sam Brownback had five days to declare a special election to be held between 45 and 60 days after being called.[1] The day following Pompeo's resignation, Brownback declared a special election to take place on April 11.[2]
Nominees for each party were selected by a district convention of party activists. Independent candidates were eligible to gain ballot access upon submitting 3,000 signatures within the first 25 days after the election was called.[3]
Although not initially expected to be a close race, the NRCC spent $100,000 on advertising in the last week of the campaign, and Republican luminaries such as Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, President Donald Trump, and Vice President Mike Pence recorded robocalls or campaigned in person supporting their nominee Ron Estes.[4][5] On April 10, the Cook Political Report moved the rating of the district to Lean Republican.[6] Nonetheless, Estes won the election. After the election, all of the political prediction organizations shifted the district's rating back to "Safe".
Republican Party
The Republican Party selected a nominee at a convention held on February 9, 2017.[7]
Candidates
Nominated
Eliminated at convention
- Joseph Ashby, former radio talk show host[10]
- George Bruce, attorney[11]
- Alan Cobb, former Donald Trump campaign staffer[12]
- Todd Tiahrt, former U.S. Representative[13]
Withdrawn
Declined
- Willis Hartman, businessman[18]
- Mark Hutton, State Representative[19]
- Mark Kahrs, State Representative[20]
- Ty Masterson, State Senator[15]
- Michael O'Donnell, Sedgwick County Commissioner[15]
- Susan Wagle, President of the State Senate[15][21]
Results
| Republican Convention | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | First ballot | Pct. | Second ballot | Pct. |
| Ron Estes | 58 | 46% | 66 | 52% |
| Alan Cobb | 28 | 22% | 43 | 34% |
| Todd Tiahrt | 20 | 16% | 17 | 14% |
| Joseph Ashby | 10 | 8% | Eliminated | |
| George Bruce | 10 | 8% | Eliminated | |
Democratic Party
The Democratic Party selected a nominee at a convention held on February 11, 2017.[7]
Candidates
Nominated
- James Thompson, attorney and U.S. Army veteran[22][23]
Eliminated at convention
- Laura Lombard, entrepreneur[24][25]
- Dennis McKinney, former Kansas State Treasurer and former Minority Leader of the Kansas House of Representatives[26]
- Robert Tillman, nominee for this seat in 2012 and candidate for this seat in 2016[15][24]
- Charlie Walker, police officer[27]
Withdrawn
- Kevass Harding, former Wichita School Board member[7]
Declined
- Carl Brewer, former Mayor of Wichita[24]
- Dan Giroux, attorney and nominee for this seat in 2016[15][18][19]
- Henry Helgerson, State Representative[24]
- Jim Ward, State Representative[24][12]
Endorsements
- Organizations
Results
| Democratic Convention | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | First ballot | Pct. | Second ballot | Pct. |
| James Thompson | 17 | 44% | 21 | 54% |
| Dennis McKinney | 16 | 41% | 18 | 46% |
| Laura Lombard | 3 | 8% | Eliminated | |
| Charlie Walker | 3 | 8% | Eliminated | |
| Robert Tillman | 0 | 0% | Eliminated | |
Libertarian Party
The Libertarian Party selected a nominee at a convention held on February 11, 2017.[7]
Candidates
Nominated
Eliminated at convention
- Gordon Bakken, candidate for this seat in 2016
- John Kostner, farmer and rancher
Results
| Libertarian Convention | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | First ballot | Pct. | ||
| Chris Rockhold | 17 | 85% | ||
| Gordon Bakken | 3 | 15% | ||
| John Kostner | 0 | 0% | ||
General election
Polling
| Poll source | Date(s) administered |
Sample size |
Margin of error |
Ron Estes (R) |
James Thompson (D) |
Chris Rockhold (L) |
Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Park Strategies (D-Thompson) | March 2017 | 500 | 4.4% | 56% | 32% | 4% | – |
Results
The Associated Press called the election for Estes while he was leading by 6% with 88% of precincts reporting. The lead was 6.2% when all the votes were tallied.[31][32]
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ron Estes | 64,044 | 52.2% | ||
| Democratic | James Thompson | 56,435 | 46.0% | ||
| Libertarian | Chris Rockhold | 2,115 | 1.7% | ||
| Total votes | 122,594 | 100.0% | |||
| Republican hold | |||||
See also
- List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
- United States House of Representatives elections in Kansas, 2016
- Ohio's 2nd congressional district special election, 2005
References
- ^ Evans, Scott. "If Rep. Mike Pompeo takes over CIA, how is his House seat replaced?". Retrieved December 1, 2016.
- ^ Press, Associated (January 25, 2017). "Governor sets April 11 election to fill Pompeo's seat". Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ Hancock, Peter (January 12, 2017). "Kansas House passes bill on special elections for Congress as Pompeo stands for confirmation for CIA". Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
- ^ http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/10/politics/kansas-house-special-election/
- ^ http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/328193-trump-records-robocall-for-kansas-special-election
- ^ http://cookpolitical.com/story/10306
- ^ a b c d Faulx, Nadya (February 8, 2017). "Kansas Parties To Select Candidates For 4th District Special Election". KMUW. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ Tv, Ksn (January 25, 2017). "State Treasurer Ron Estes announces run for 4th Congressional District seat". Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ Lefler, Dion (February 9, 2017). "Estes wins GOP nomination for Pompeo seat". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
- ^ Dinell, David (February 1, 2017). "Congressional seat sought by Derby man". The Derby Informer. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ Salazar, Daniel (January 10, 2017). "Wichita lawyer George Bruce announces run for Congress". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
- ^ a b "Here's the latest on who's running for Pompeo's seat in Congress". Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/national-politics/article128513964.html
- ^ "Eric Kidwell announces bid for 4th Congressional District seat". KWCH. January 31, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f "Who wants to replace Mike Pompeo in Congress?". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
- ^ Ryan, Kelsey (January 12, 2017). "Wichita council member Pete Meitzner to run for Pompeo's seat". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved January 14, 2017.
- ^ "Meitzner withdraws from Congressional race". KAKE. February 8, 2017. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ a b "Trump appointments have Republicans lining up for Senate, House vacancies". Retrieved December 1, 2016.
- ^ a b "Field narrows again in race to replace Pompeo". The Wichita Eagle. November 30, 2016. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
- ^ "Former U.S. Rep. Tiahrt exploring whether to seek old seat". Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ Lowry, Bryan (January 24, 2017). "Here's the latest on who's running for Pompeo's seat in Congress". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ matthew.heilman. "James Thompson announces campaign for 4th Congressional District". Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- ^ Lefler, Dion (February 11, 2017). "Lawyer James Thompson wins Democratic nomination for Congress". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
- ^ a b c d e Eckels, Carla (December 13, 2016). "Several Kansas Democrats Interested In Running For 4th District Seat". KMUW. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
- ^ Ryan, Kelsey (January 13, 2017). "Laura Lombard to run as Democrat for Pompeo's seat". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
- ^ "Former lawmaker Dennis McKinney to announce bid for Congress - Statehouse Live / LJWorld.com". Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ "Charlie Walker 4 KS (@charliewalkerKS) - Twitter". Retrieved February 9, 2017.
- ^ Lefler, Dion (February 6, 2017). "15 things you need to know about the race to replace Pompeo". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
- ^ Rockhold, Chris (January 25, 2017). "Chris Rockhold". Facebook. Retrieved February 6, 2017.
- ^ Finger, Stan (February 11, 2017). "Chris Rockhold earns Libertarian nod for 4th District special election". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
- ^ http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/328362-live-results-kansas-special-election
- ^ "Live Results: Republicans Defend House Seat in Kansas Special Election". Retrieved April 12, 2017.
- ^ http://www.kssos.org/elections/17elec/2017_Special_Election_Official_Results.pdf
External links
- Official campaign websites