SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
To donate by check, phone, or other method, see our More Ways to Give page.
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
"We set out about 60, 75 days ago with people who told us we didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of winning. And we've shown that this district is not just competitive but that we can win it," Thompson said. (Photo: AP)
Republican Ron Estes narrowly survived the special election in Kansas on Tuesday, which was seen as a first test of the resistance movement's power to oppose the Trump administration--but the GOP is hardly celebrating, and Democrats remain undeterred.
Estes, the Republican state treasurer, won the 4th District U.S. House seat vacated by now-CIA director Mike Pompeo by 53 percent to Democratic opponent and civil rights attorney James Thompson's 46 percent, a close result in a heavily Republican area that President Donald Trump took by 27 points in November.
Thompson's unexpectedly strong challenge is likely to galvanize Democrats in the 2018 midterms. His campaign, inspired by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), was supported almost entirely by individual small-dollar donors, while Estes had to lean on 11th-hour support from Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and a massive ad buy from the National Republican Congressional Committee to survive the race.
"We set out about 60, 75 days ago with people who told us we didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of winning. And we've shown that this district is not just competitive but that we can win it," Thompson said.
Chris Pumpelly, a spokesman for his campaign, said Thompson would run for the seat again in 2018. The results show that "You fight. You play every game," Pumpelly said.
Chapman Rackaway, a political science professor at Fort Hays State University, told the Wichita Eagle that Kansas "Democrats are fired up and they're mobilizing." Many are looking to flip the 2nd District seat held by Rep. Lynn Jenkins or the 3rd District seat held by Rep. Kevin Yoder in 2018, the Eagle reports.
One Republican House member who was granted anonymity to speak candidly on the special election told CNN that the outcome should be viewed as a warning.
"This should be a wakeup call to the administration and the Republican Congress," the lawmaker said. "The Democratic base is fully mobilized and unlikely to be defused. We will have to beat them. That will take motivating our base. So far we have not."
However, the close margin in Tuesday's race could hamper Republican efforts to recruit candidates, according to Patrick Miller, a political science professor at the University of Kansas. Pompeo previously won the district in repeated landslides.
"They don't want to be explaining to them why Estes pulled off an underwhelming win in a district he should have won by 30 points," Miller told the Eagle.
Now, the resistance turns to Georgia, which holds a closely watched special election next week.
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Republican Ron Estes narrowly survived the special election in Kansas on Tuesday, which was seen as a first test of the resistance movement's power to oppose the Trump administration--but the GOP is hardly celebrating, and Democrats remain undeterred.
Estes, the Republican state treasurer, won the 4th District U.S. House seat vacated by now-CIA director Mike Pompeo by 53 percent to Democratic opponent and civil rights attorney James Thompson's 46 percent, a close result in a heavily Republican area that President Donald Trump took by 27 points in November.
Thompson's unexpectedly strong challenge is likely to galvanize Democrats in the 2018 midterms. His campaign, inspired by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), was supported almost entirely by individual small-dollar donors, while Estes had to lean on 11th-hour support from Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and a massive ad buy from the National Republican Congressional Committee to survive the race.
"We set out about 60, 75 days ago with people who told us we didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of winning. And we've shown that this district is not just competitive but that we can win it," Thompson said.
Chris Pumpelly, a spokesman for his campaign, said Thompson would run for the seat again in 2018. The results show that "You fight. You play every game," Pumpelly said.
Chapman Rackaway, a political science professor at Fort Hays State University, told the Wichita Eagle that Kansas "Democrats are fired up and they're mobilizing." Many are looking to flip the 2nd District seat held by Rep. Lynn Jenkins or the 3rd District seat held by Rep. Kevin Yoder in 2018, the Eagle reports.
One Republican House member who was granted anonymity to speak candidly on the special election told CNN that the outcome should be viewed as a warning.
"This should be a wakeup call to the administration and the Republican Congress," the lawmaker said. "The Democratic base is fully mobilized and unlikely to be defused. We will have to beat them. That will take motivating our base. So far we have not."
However, the close margin in Tuesday's race could hamper Republican efforts to recruit candidates, according to Patrick Miller, a political science professor at the University of Kansas. Pompeo previously won the district in repeated landslides.
"They don't want to be explaining to them why Estes pulled off an underwhelming win in a district he should have won by 30 points," Miller told the Eagle.
Now, the resistance turns to Georgia, which holds a closely watched special election next week.
Republican Ron Estes narrowly survived the special election in Kansas on Tuesday, which was seen as a first test of the resistance movement's power to oppose the Trump administration--but the GOP is hardly celebrating, and Democrats remain undeterred.
Estes, the Republican state treasurer, won the 4th District U.S. House seat vacated by now-CIA director Mike Pompeo by 53 percent to Democratic opponent and civil rights attorney James Thompson's 46 percent, a close result in a heavily Republican area that President Donald Trump took by 27 points in November.
Thompson's unexpectedly strong challenge is likely to galvanize Democrats in the 2018 midterms. His campaign, inspired by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), was supported almost entirely by individual small-dollar donors, while Estes had to lean on 11th-hour support from Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and a massive ad buy from the National Republican Congressional Committee to survive the race.
"We set out about 60, 75 days ago with people who told us we didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of winning. And we've shown that this district is not just competitive but that we can win it," Thompson said.
Chris Pumpelly, a spokesman for his campaign, said Thompson would run for the seat again in 2018. The results show that "You fight. You play every game," Pumpelly said.
Chapman Rackaway, a political science professor at Fort Hays State University, told the Wichita Eagle that Kansas "Democrats are fired up and they're mobilizing." Many are looking to flip the 2nd District seat held by Rep. Lynn Jenkins or the 3rd District seat held by Rep. Kevin Yoder in 2018, the Eagle reports.
One Republican House member who was granted anonymity to speak candidly on the special election told CNN that the outcome should be viewed as a warning.
"This should be a wakeup call to the administration and the Republican Congress," the lawmaker said. "The Democratic base is fully mobilized and unlikely to be defused. We will have to beat them. That will take motivating our base. So far we have not."
However, the close margin in Tuesday's race could hamper Republican efforts to recruit candidates, according to Patrick Miller, a political science professor at the University of Kansas. Pompeo previously won the district in repeated landslides.
"They don't want to be explaining to them why Estes pulled off an underwhelming win in a district he should have won by 30 points," Miller told the Eagle.
Now, the resistance turns to Georgia, which holds a closely watched special election next week.