Gallup: Republican Voters Drive Sinking Congressional Approval

Bernie Sanders’ campaign for the presidency previous year and made a decision to run for the 4th District.

The Kansas election was the first of four special elections to fill seats in the House of Representatives – where Republicans now hold a 237-193 majority – to replace Republicans who took top jobs in the Trump administration.

Estes swept the western counties in the 4th District’s special election Tuesday, claiming an overall 53 percent over Democrat James Thompson’s 46 percent and Libertarian Chris Rockhold’s 2 percent.

Next week’s special election In Georgia’s 6th district – a seat Trump carried by only one point in 2016 – will be a more fair fight than this Kansas seat. A flood of big GOP campaign donations and a last-minute ad buy last week of almost $100,000 by the National Republican Congressional Committee also signaled GOP nervousness.

Estes supported Trump a year ago and backs the president’s policies.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee did 25,000 live calls in the final two days before the race to support Thompson.

Still, Speaker Ryan expressed his congratulations to Estes on his victory. Fox News adds, “The Republican’s margin of victory was just over 8,000 votes”.

Trump’s appointment of Rep. Mike Pompeo to head the Central Intelligence Agency created the opportunity for Estes to move up the political ladder from Kansas state treasurer to federal representative.

Republicans have represented the district since Todd Tiahrt unseated veteran Democratic Rep. Dan Glickman in 1994. But Thompson won in Sedgwick County, which includes Wichita.

Democrats had hoped to capitalize on Trump’s poor approval rating and dissatisfaction among moderates with Republican Governor Sam Brownback to win back one of 24 seats they need nationwide to reclaim the House.

Trump won 60 percent of the votes cast in the congressional district that includes the state’s largest city of Wichita. In a district with a natural double-digit advantage for Republicans, that’s certainly cause for concern – but what specifically turned off voters?

James Thompson, the Democratic candidate, said, “Mr. Estes did not beat us”.

Even with Estes’ victory, winning majority support for tough votes in Congress could become even more hard if more Republicans see a chance of danger in the 2018 elections, though Republicans have noted that special elections are unpredictable by nature.

“I would not say this is any kind of referendum on Donald Trump”, Kansas Republican Party chairman Kelly Arnold said pre-election.

Republicans considered the race – in a district President Donald Trump won by 27 points – a shoe-in, until an energized base propelled Democratic candidate Jim Thompson within range of a potential victory. If you would like to discuss another topic, look for a relevant article. “I wanted to do everything I could to help turnout”.

Trump’s agenda and the legislation he has pushed so far would prove devastating for the people who live in this district-for example, 15,152 people in this district would lose their healthcare if the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is repealed.