Republican Wins Kansas 4th District Congressional Special Election

Republicans held off a surprisingly strong Democratic challenge for a Kansas House seat in the first congressional election since President Donald Trump’s November victory.

Voters on Tuesday picked state Treasurer Ron Estes to fill the vacancy created when Trump chose former U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo as CIA director.

Estes held off Democrat James Thompson, a civil rights attorney, to claim the 4th congressional district seat occupied by Republicans for more than two decades.

4/11/2017 Related Story: Congressional Race In South Central Kansas Surprisingly Competitive

Trump won 60 percent of votes in November’s election in the 17-county district in south-central Kansas that includes the state’s largest city of Wichita.

The district includes Chautauqua County.

The special election was closely watched for any anti-Trump backlash against Republicans.

The Estes campaign pulled in Senator Ted Cruz of Texas to campaign Monday Wichita. Vice President Mike Pence also recorded a get-out-the-vote call on behalf of Estes, the state’s treasurer.

In a sign of nervousness in the waning days of the campaign, Republicans poured money into the race to bolster Estes, who was criticized by Thompson for avoiding some events to which both leading candidates were invited.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.