Republicans Suddenly Sweating Election in Deep-Red Kansas District

The Hill ^ | 44/07/17 | MAX GREENWOOD

[nickcarraway]

Vice President Pence is stepping into Kansas's special House election, recording a robocall urging Republican voters to cast their ballots for the party's congressional nominee on Tuesday, the Washington Examiner reported on Friday.

The robocall comes amid shaky support for Kansas State Treasurer Ron Estes, who is running against Democrat James Thompson to fill the House seat vacated by Mike Pompeo, who is now President Trump's CIA director.

President Trump won Kansas's 4th District by almost 30 points in November. But Democrats in the district have been energized by the president's low-approval ratings and controversies in his first months in office, leaving Republicans sweating over whether they will be able to hold the seat.

"Ron's run a horrible campaign," a Kansas Republican operative told the Examiner. "Hasn't raised much money, his ads are abysmal — no energy. It's a low turnout special and weird things happen."

Pence isn't the only high-profile Republican to step in to try to aid Estes. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is expected to make an appearance in Kansas' 4th District on Monday, according to the Kansas City Star.

Another special House race in Georgia's 6th District also has Republicans scrambling for a win. Democrat Jon Ossoff has gained a high-profile in the district and is leading Republican candidates in polls to fill the House seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

[Dave W]

Really? If no one cares yet, why are the Dems feverishly trying to recruit for next year? This is actually a very important time for the mid term elections because if Trump looks weak and his numbers are low (which they are) it encourages strong democrats to enter races as challengers. If potential democrats perceive Trump as strong with good poll numbers, strong challengers tend to say "no" to running, which means the Republicans run against a lower tier candidate.

Early signs show that first tier candidates will be running. So, pay attention now and stay informed.

[Chgogal]

Bump to the top!

Awesome rant.

[cpdiii]

Not really.

[9YearLurker]

Axios is for real and the story is linked at Drudge.

[joma89]

Here we go again. Fake news...skewed polls...in the end, it is called information warfare.

JoMa

[Trump20162020]

I live in GA-6 district. Spoiler warning:

• No one is going to get 50%+ of the vote on April 18.
• There will thus be a run-off in June between the top GOP vote-getter and Ossoff.
• The Republican will win, and it won't even be that close (around double digits).
• Ossoff will do better than most Democrats in this district, because he has a $2,000,000 war chest, while most Democratic Party House candidates in recent GA-6 history didn't have any money or name ID, and were frankly just token opposition.
• The mainstream media pundits and Leftist blogs will say that Ossoff's "close" loss is evidence of Republicans being in trouble in 2018.

There, now you can stop paying attention to this race.

[AndyTheBear]

Taking action to help assure you win an election rather than simply assuming you will win is prudence, not “sweating”.

[nathanbedford]

9yearLurker's negative scenario is not at all far-fetched if there is a schism in the Republican Party. The beginning cracks were exposed by the pathetic failure of healthcare reform. The problem with healthcare reform was that Trump sided with the Rino Republicans in an attempt to bamboozle conservatives into believing that they were actually reforming Obama care.

Rino care merely reflects the common understanding between Rino Republicans and Donald Trump that no entitlement, especially including healthcare, can be reformed. Worse, Trump has shown himself willing to enact new entitlements and add debt to a nation now $20 trillion in debt when there is every indication that interest rates are to rise. Unable to reform healthcare, unwilling to reform entitlements, eager to impose new entitlements on the taxpayer, in a rising interest environment, a schism in the party is not entirely unlikely.

Against that you cite an economy that is getting better and there are many indications that it is. But there are also threats. Rising interest rates would be devastating. Failure to enact tax cuts would be more than disappointing, it would trigger a re-evaluation of the market and change its entire psychology. The stock market might well be topping and that prop might become a liability. Heavy handedness of trade reform might well result in a recession or worse if a trade war ensues. The idea that the economy will march along a straight line toward ever better days belies history and we might consider whether a recession is simply overdue.

So we have on the one hand potential schism in the party because Trump is not made clear yet whether he is going to govern as a conservative or whether he is going to be an eclectic and because no one knows, repeat no one, where the economy is going.

Stop being negative jackass. It's annoying.

If a Republican in this district in Kansas loses, it is time to panic or at least rethink a lot of assumptions. So, no, I do not think as you evidently do that 9yearLurker is a jackass but I do find it annoying that you say so.

[nathanbedford]

Common courtesy as well as Free Republic etiquette requires that you send the object of your criticism a heads up.

[Pinkbell]

I told people not to write off those people at townhalls as paid Soros people. They are motivated, angry liberals who want to retake power. The Tea Party capitalized on anger as well. Liberals wrote the Tea Party off and got complacent. Never get complacent.

[sargon]

The problem with healthcare reform was that Trump sided with the Rino Republicans in an attempt to bamboozle conservatives into believing that they were actually reforming Obama care.

There goes another perfect example of your gratuitous insults.

The President working tirelessly to get everyone on board for a healthcare bill is a "bamboozle" to you.

You just can't suppress your anti-Trump impulses. Your bias ends up being woven into every thread of "analysis".

Please stop being a nattering nabob of negativism...

[sargon]

Never get complacent.

I don't think too many people around these here parts are complacent...

[98ZJ USMC]

With the direction of the Trump admin, the Dems are headed toward retaking the House in 2018—and then all hell will break loose.

Heh ..... bullshit. What Trump voter, in their right mind, is going to suddenly vote (D)Marxist?

[Lakeshark]

Good grief, there you go again.

Have you learned nothing yet?

Oh, the horror, your fake scenario shows us silly Trump supporters how we should have nominated Cruz......

Why am I not surprised?

Please go away. You're a very sick human being.

[SubMareener]

No, we think axios is a Soros disinformation site.

[SanchoP]

Shoot the messenger!

Max Greenwood is an intern on The Huffington Post’s politics team in Washington, D.C.

[Hugin]

Trump has done more to advance conservatism in three months than Bush did in 8 years. Why don’t you go back to lurking?

[nathanbedford]

By attacking the messenger you two are playing an increasingly losing game.

Hillary Clinton is no longer a threat. Trump's actions, especially involving healthcare but also involving his inner circle bereft now of conservatives, is exposing the eclectic nature of Trump's administration for any observant conservative to see.

Keep attacking me, keep dodging the merits and watch more and more conservatives peel away from mindless cultish devotion to personality over policy.

[LS]

You mean success after success?

This is mind boggling. He’s done more in 3 months than Reagan in a more hostile environmant.

If you are believing the same fake polls that had Cankles winning, good luck.

Republicans have to run good candidates.

[billyboy15]

Arrests at the border have hit all time lows since Trump was elected because the illegals know they have little chance of NOT being sent back. The rounding up and shipping out of illegals already here are at record highs.

Things Trump is “contemplating” do not equate to a loss of support and as everyone who understand politics know it is jobs and the economy, followed by immigration which are the most important things to voters.

In these 2 areas Trump has done very well with the Consumer and business confidence levels at 16 yr highs.

Trump has shown himself to be a “leader” and a man of action whether or not you think he was right or not. Americans have always rallied around a strong leader and we have one. It is way, way to early to start guessing about how elections 18 months away will turn out since in politics 2 weeks is a lifetime.

Just look at what is happening with the latest release of news concerning Susan Rice. Trump has access to ALL the info the intel services has and I believe it will be used effectively to negate the Left’s attempts to discredit him.