Kansas, Georgia elections seen as GOP ‘ wake- up call’
U. S. House special elections in Kansas and Georgia are showing Democrats making inroads in traditionally conservative Republican districts, offering the first snapshot of the U. S. political landscape after President Trump’s inauguration.
On Tuesday night, Republican Ron Estes, the state treasurer, won the southern Kansas district around Wichita, a district Trump carried by 27 points in November. Estes won with 52.5% of the vote and Democrat James Thompson garnered 45.7%.
This is despite the fact that the official Republican campaign committee poured $ 100,000 in ads into protecting the seat, vacated by Trump’s new CIA Director Mike Pompeo, and took a series of last- minute steps to bolster the margin, including a Monday visit from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and taped robo- calls from Trump and Vice President Pence.
In comparison, national Democrats devoted hardly any resources to the race as smaller individual donors directed funds to Thompson.
“It’s a wake- up call,” said David Wasserman, the House editor at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
The outcome of the Kansas race sets the scene for a much closer contest in Georgia next Tuesday. Democrat Jon Ossoff is within striking distance in a district previously represented by Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary, Tom Price.
Both races test whether the anti-Trump grass- roots activism taking place across the country can translate into electoral success for Democrats.