State Treasurer Ron Estes (R) beat Bernie Sanders upheld Democrat James Thompson in a Kansas congressional extraordinary decision that turned out to be shut in the last weeks of the crusade.
By the numbers, the race in Kansas shouldn't have been close. Rep. Mike Pompeo, a casual get-together Republican picked to lead the CIA, was re-chosen to his seat by more than 30 focuses in November in a dependably preservationist area that is home to Koch Industries.
But in the middle of last week Republicans began circulating an internal poll showing Thompson trailing by just 1 point, and the national party quickly invested nearly $120,000 to back up Estes. President Donald Trump recorded a robocall on his behalf and tweeted about the race Tuesday morning, and Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) were dispatched to shore up support.
The implantation of money was a flag to Democrats that, unexpectedly, the race was aggressive. However the Democratic Party remained out of the race until the crusade's last days, when the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee started making approaches his sake.
Washington Democrats, for their part, argue that had they jumped into the race earlier, it would have become “nationalized” ― meaning voters would retreat to their partisan corners and Thompson would have been sunk. But even if that’s true, their reluctance to match the Republican ad buy has left grassroots Democrats furious. Even without the party involved, independent activists sent more than $200,000 to Thompson in the closing days of the race.
