Written by: Olivia Vest
Following the resignation of U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo, a special election was held to fill the seat of representation for Kansas’ Fourth Congressional District.
The special election, held officially on Tuesday, April 11, was ultimately filled by Republican Ron Estes.
Candidates James Thompson (D), Chris Rockhold (Libertarian) and Estes (R) received a combined total of 120,897 votes.
According to Butler sophomore Stephen Steinbacher, who canvassed on behalf of Thompson’s campaign, voter turnout is especially important for local elections.
“It’s important to stay active in special and local elections because you won’t see change unless you actually go out and try to make it yourself,” Steinbacher said.
Though Estes was projected to be the winner of the race in the Republican-dominated district, Thompson’s grassroots fundraising and canvassing led to a neck-and-neck fight, with a 2-3 percent difference in votes throughout the night of the election leading to a final seven percent difference in Estes’ favor.
Steinbacher, whose experience canvassing for Thompson was beneficial, encourages others to take part in politics in the future.
“I recommend everyone try canvassing at some point, regardless of candidate or party,” Steinbacher said. “It helped me come out of my shell a bit and working for a cause you believe in always feels good.”
Ultimately, Estes won the majority of counties (and votes) within the district, taking 53 percent of votes, with Thompson winning only Sedgwick County and 46 percent of the voter turnout. Rockhold won no counties and two percent of the votes.
The special election for the Fourth District came at a politically turbulent time for the United States, with strong divides elevating national tension. With greater numbers of voter turnout than in the past and greater numbers of districts flipping political parties, a similar election held last week on Tuesday, April 18, in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District, saw fairly similar results. In fact, the majorly Republican district nearly flipped Democrat as well. Because the highest number of votes (for Democrat Jon Ossoff) was under 50 percent, a runoff election in the Georgia district will determine the final results.
In the Kansas special election, major party candidates Estes and Thompson had large amounts of funding, with Estes receiving financial backing from the National Republican Congressional Committee as well as social support from President Donald Trump and the endorsement of the Editorial Board of Wichita’s newspaper, The Wichita Eagle.
“Ron Estes is running TODAY for Congress in the Great State of Kansas,” Trump said in a tweet. “A wonderful guy, I need his help on Healthcare & Tax Cuts (Reform).”
Because the local race ran more competitively than original polls anticipated, the election garnered national attention and makes the idea of conservative counties flipping seem more possible.