Kansas's 4th congressional district
Kansas's 4th congressional district | |||
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Representative |
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Distribution |
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Population (2022) | 737,034 | ||
Median household income | $65,593[1] | ||
Ethnicity |
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Cook PVI | R+14[2] |
Kansas's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kansas. Based in the south central part of the state, the district encompasses the city of Wichita, the largest city in Kansas, three universities, Arkansas City, and the State of Kansas's only national airport.
The 4th congressional district is historically a strongly Republican district,[3][4][5][6] almost exclusively represented, over the last half century, by Republicans—with the sole exception of moderate Democrat Dan Glickman, who lost his bid for re-election to a 10th term in 1994.[6][7]
As of mid-April 2017 (following a special election to fill the district seat left vacant by Mike Pompeo's resignation to become CIA Director), no other Democrat has won election to the Congressional seat lost by Glickman,[8] which has since gone to conservative, anti-abortion Republicans,[5][9][10][11] routinely, by a roughly two-to-one margin in subsequent races—with the exception of the April 11, 2017 special election, in which Democrat James Thompson managed to narrow the gap with Republican victor Ron Estes to only 6.2%.[12][13]
History
Since the 1980s (and peaking with the 1991
Redistricting
In 2012, a feud between conservative and moderate Republicans in the Kansas Legislature stymied progress on mandatory decennial redistricting (boundary changes to reflect new demographic data from the decennial census). With elections approaching, the federal courts intervened and drew the district boundaries, shifting the fourth district westward, into more conservative territory.[24][25][26]
2016 elections
In the 2016 general election, incumbent Republican Mike Pompeo was overwhelmingly re-elected to the seat, with a 31% (85,000-vote) lead over his Democratic rival.[3][6] However, President-elect Donald Trump then nominated him as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and upon Pompeo's Congressional confirmation as CIA Director in January 2017, Pompeo resigned his Congressional seat, leaving it vacant—forcing Kansas Governor Sam Brownback to call a special election, set for April 11, 2017, to fill Pompeo's vacated Congressional seat.[27][13][28][6][29][30] (as happened with Pompeo's previous Democratic challengers[12]).
2017 special election
Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, acting on his authority, announced a special election would be held on April 11, 2017, to fill the vacancy left by Rep. Pompeo's resignation. Republican, Democratic, and Libertarian parties would select their nominees through district caucuses, run by the respective party organizations, voting through delegates selected by their respective party rules. It would be the first Congressional election since the 2016 national election, and thus drew national attention.[6][27][13][7]
Republicans nominated Kansas State Treasurer Ron Estes. Democrats nominated civil-rights attorney James Thompson, a political novice. Libertarians nominated aviation instructor Chris Rockhold, also a political novice.[5][7][8][27][13]
Initial assumptions were that this election's outcome was a foregone conclusion: The Republican would win overwhelmingly again. However, Democratic nominee Thompson, aided with numerous energetic supporters (particularly former local campaigners for Bernie Sanders, who had taken the 2016 Kansas Democratic Presidential Caucus by 75%), began to show signs of the first serious fourth district challenge to Republicans since Glickman's loss a quarter-century earlier.[3][6][5][7][27][13][28]
The Thompson campaign raised about $254,000 by the final campaign finance-reporting deadline, and over 97% was from individual donors—with a last-minute infusion of only $10,000 from the state party, reflecting a lack of support from his state party and national organizations.[5] By comparison, Estes raised about $318,000—plus another $94,000 from the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) after the filing deadline—largely from outside groups and big (over $1,000) donors.[5][7]
The Thompson campaign emphasized Thompson's working-class progressive credentials, telling the story of his
In the last two weeks of the election, Republicans responded with a flurry of ads, especially abortion-focused ads, largely from national Republican party organizations.
On election day—although advance voting returns indicated a substantial lead for Thompson, and Thompson narrowly secured a majority of the total Sedgwick County vote—a final tally of the in-person votes, combined with the advance ballots, eventually sorted out to give Estes (at 53% of the vote) the victory over Democrat Thompson (with 45% - about 8,500 fewer votes) and Libertarian Rockhold (at 2%, about 1,900 votes total).[6][27][13] It was the closest that Democrats had come to retaking the seat since Glickman's 1994 loss, and though clearly the Republican won, analysts described the unusually close race as a sign of trouble for Republicans in the fourth district, and in Kansas, and nationally.[3][4][5][27][13][28] Thompson immediately announced plans to run for the seat, again, in 2018.[6][27][28][4]
2018 regular election
In the 2018 election, the district's Republican incumbent for Congress was Representative
2000 demographics
Most of the approximately 670,000 citizens of the fourth district reside in the state's largest city,
Following redistricting after the
There were 261,106 households, out of which 36.53% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.87% were married couples living together, 10.14% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.07% were non-families. 27.62% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.99% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.10.
In the district the population distribution by age is 27.69% under the age of 18, 9.13% from 18 to 24, 28.98% from 25 to 44, 21.19% from 45 to 64, and 13.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.0 years. For every 100 females there were 97.32 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.67 males.
The
Among the population aged 16 years and older, 66.4% was in the civilian
List of members representing the district
Member | Party | Years | Cong ress |
Electoral history | District maps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
District created March 4, 1885 | |||||
Thomas Ryan )
(Topeka |
Republican | March 4, 1885 – April 4, 1889 |
49th 50th 51st |
Redistricted from the U.S. Minister to Mexico .
|
|
Vacant | April 4, 1889 – December 2, 1889 |
51st | |||
Harrison Kelley (Burlington) |
Republican | December 2, 1889 – March 3, 1891 |
Elected to finish Ryan's term .Retired. | ||
John G. Otis (Topeka) |
Populist | March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893 |
52nd | Elected in 1890 .Lost renomination. | |
Charles Curtis (Topeka) |
Republican | March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1899 |
53rd 54th 55th |
Re-elected in 1896. .
Redistricted to the 1st district | |
James M. Miller (Council Grove) |
Republican | March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1911 |
56th 57th 58th 59th 60th 61st |
Re-elected in 1908 .Lost renomination. | |
Fred S. Jackson (Eureka) |
Republican | March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1913 |
62nd | Elected in 1910 .Lost re-election. | |
Dudley Doolittle (Strong City) |
Democratic | March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1919 |
63rd 64th 65th |
Re-elected in 1916 .Lost re-election. | |
Homer Hoch (Marion) |
Republican | March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1933 |
66th 67th 68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd |
Re-elected in 1930 .Lost re-election. | |
Randolph Carpenter (Marion) |
Democratic | March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1937 |
73rd 74th |
Re-elected in 1934 .Retired. | |
Edward H. Rees )
(Emporia |
Republican | January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1961 |
75th 76th 77th 78th 79th 80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th |
Re-elected in 1958 .Retired. | |
Garner E. Shriver (Wichita) |
Republican | January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1977 |
87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th |
Re-elected in 1974 .Lost re-election. | |
Dan Glickman (Wichita) |
Democratic | January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1995 |
95th 96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd 103rd |
Re-elected in 1992 .Lost re-election. | |
Todd Tiahrt (Goddard) |
Republican | January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2011 |
104th 105th 106th 107th 108th 109th 110th 111th |
Elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Retired to run for U.S. Senator. | |
2003–2013 | |||||
Mike Pompeo (Wichita) |
Republican | January 3, 2011 – January 23, 2017 |
112th 113th 114th 115th |
Elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Resigned to become Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. | |
2013–2023 | |||||
Vacant | January 23, 2017 – April 11, 2017 |
115th | |||
Ron Estes (Wichita) |
Republican | April 11, 2017– present |
115th 116th 117th 118th |
Elected to finish Pompeo's term. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022. | |
2023–present |
Election results from recent statewide races
Year | Office | Results | Winning party |
---|---|---|---|
2000 | President | George W. Bush 59 – Al Gore 37% | Republican |
2004 | President | George W. Bush 64 – John Kerry 34% | Republican |
2008 | President | John McCain 58 – Barack Obama 40% | Republican |
2012 | President | Mitt Romney 62 – Barack Obama 36% | Republican |
2016 | President | Donald Trump 60 – Hillary Clinton 33% | Republican |
2020 | President | Donald Trump 60 – Joe Biden 38% | Republican |
Recent election results
2002
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Todd Tiahrt* | 114,354 | 60.68 | |
Democratic | Carlos Nolla | 69,560 | 36.91 | |
Libertarian | Maike Warren | 4,544 | 2.41 | |
Total votes | 188,458 | 100.00 | ||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | |||
Republican hold |
2004
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Todd Tiahrt* | 173,151 | 66.11 | |
Democratic | Michael Kinard | 81,388 | 31.07 | |
Libertarian | David Loomis | 7,376 | 2.82 | |
Total votes | 261,915 | 100.00 | ||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | |||
Republican hold |
2006
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Todd Tiahrt* | 113,676 | 63.69 | |
Democratic | Garth J. McGinn | 60,297 | 33.78 | |
Reform
|
Joy Holt | 4,516 | 2.53 | |
Total votes | 178,489 | 100.00 | ||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | |||
Republican hold |
2008
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Todd Tiahrt* | 177,617 | 63.41 | |
Democratic | Donald Betts, Jr.
|
90,706 | 32.38 | |
Reform
|
Susan Ducey | 6,441 | 2.30 | |
Libertarian | Steven Rosile | 5,345 | 1.91 | |
Total votes | 280,109 | 100.00 | ||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | |||
Republican hold |
2010
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Mike Pompeo | 119,575 | 58.79 | |
Democratic | Raj Goyle | 74,143 | 36.46 | |
Reform
|
Susan Ducey | 5,041 | 2.48 | |
Libertarian | Shawn S. Smith | 4,624 | 2.94 | |
Total votes | 203,383 | 100.00 | ||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | |||
Republican hold |
2012
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Mike Pompeo (incumbent) | 161,094 | 62.2 | |
Democratic | Robert Leo Tillman | 81,770 | 31.6 | |
Libertarian | Thomas Jefferson | 16,058 | 6.2 | |
Total votes | 258,922 | 100.00 | ||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | |||
Republican hold |
2014
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Mike Pompeo (incumbent) | 138,757 | 66.66 | |
Democratic | Perry Schuckman | 69,396 | 33.34 | |
Total votes | 208,153 | 100.00 | ||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | |||
Republican hold |
2016
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Mike Pompeo (incumbent) | 166,998 | 60.7 | |
Democratic | Daniel Giroux | 81,495 | 29.6 | |
Independent
|
Miranda Allen | 19,021 | 6.9 | |
Libertarian | Gordon Bakken | 7,737 | 2.8 | |
Total votes | 275,251 | 100.00 | ||
Turnout | {{{votes}}} | |||
Republican hold |
2017 special election
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Ron Estes | 63,505 | 52.5 | |
Democratic | James Thompson | 55,310 | 45.7 | |
Libertarian | Chris Rockhold | 2,082 | 1.7 | |
Total votes | 120,897 | 100.00 | ||
Republican hold |
2018
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Ron Estes (incumbent) | 144,248 | 59.4 | |
Democratic | James Thompson | 98,445 | 40.6 | |
Total votes | 242,693 | 100.0 | ||
Republican hold |
2020
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Ron Estes (incumbent) | 203,432 | 63.7 | |
Democratic | Laura Lombard | 116,166 | 36.3 | |
Total votes | 319,598 | 100.0 | ||
Republican hold |
2022
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Ron Estes (incumbent) | 144,889 | 63.3 | |
Democratic | Bob Hernandez | 83,851 | 36.7 | |
Total votes | 228,740 | 100.0 | ||
Republican hold |
Historical district boundaries
In 2012, in an unusual move, the federal courts intervened in Kansas's decennial redistricting (required by law to adjust boundaries of Congressional and state legislative districts every 10 years, to reflect changing population distributions, as reported by the decennial census).[24]
Sharply criticizing the Legislature for the intractable feud between conservative and moderate factions in the Kansas Legislature (normally responsible for redistricting), and recognizing the rapidly approaching next elections, a federal three-judge panel (the Chief Justice of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals and two judges from the Kansas City U.S. District Court) drew the Kansas state and Congressional district boundaries themselves, in rather simple and direct shapes that produced radical changes.[24][25]
In the process, the 4th congressional district shifted west—still centered approximately on (and demographically dominated by) Wichita, The district's previous eastern boundary – Montgomery County and part of Greenwood County – were moved into another district, while the 4th district's western edge moved farther west, to include all of Pratt, Stafford, Barber, Kiowa, Comanche and Edwards counties, plus a slender section of southern Pawnee County. In the process, the Fourth acquired a more neatly rectangular shape, and sharply reduced the amount of counties divided between the Fourth and another district.[24][25]
The map shown here indicates prior boundaries.
See also
References
- ^ "My Congressional District".
- ^ "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. July 12, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Republicans' narrow win for Kansas seat embolden Democrats," April 12, 2017, PBS NewsHour, retrieved April 12, 2017
- ^ a b c Stirewalt, Chris, "A shocker in Wichita?," published April 11, 2017, FoxNews, retrieved April 14, 2017
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Weigel, David, Analysis: "Four big lessons from Kansas's special election," April 12, 2017, Washington Post, retrieved April 14, 2017
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Chamberlain, Samuel, "Republican holds on in closely-watched Kansas special House election," April 12, 2017, FoxNews, retrieved April 14, 2017
- ^ a b c d e f g "Dems making close race in Kansas, in 1st congressional contest under Trump," published April 11, 2017, FoxNews, retrieved April 14, 2017
- ^ a b "Kansas Democratic Party picks James Thompson as nominee for 4th District race," February 11, 2017, KWCH-TV News, retrieved February 12, 2017
- ^ a b c Hegeman, Roxanna, Associated Press, "Kansas House race divides anti-abortion community," July 20, 2014, Associated Press, in Washington Times, retrieved February 10, 2017
- ^ a b "Todd Tiahrt on Abortion," in "Todd Tiahrt on the Issues" page, OnTheIssues.org, retrieved February 10, 2017
- ^ "Mike Pompeo on Abortion," in "Mike Pompeo on the Issues" page, OnTheIssues.org, retrieved February 10, 2017
- ^ a b "Wichita attorney Dan Giroux announces challenge to Rep_ Mike Pompeo," Topeka Capital-Journal / CJonline.com, retrieved February 12, 2017
- ^ a b c d e f g h Associated Press, "Republicans survive election scare, win Kansas House seat" KSN-W TV News, Kansas State Network, Wichita, Kansas; Published: April 11, 2017, 11:40 am; Updated: April 12, 2017, 12:04 am (NOTE: The date and time posted by AP/KSN for original publication precedes, by several hours, the closing of the polls, raising questions about the origins of this article, reporting the outcome of this relatively close election), retrieved April 12, 2017
- ^ "Drive Against Abortion Finds a Symbol: Wichita," August 4, 1991, New York Times
- ^ Abcarian, Robin, "Abortion doc's killer convicted," January 30, 2010, Chicago Tribune, (originally published January 29, 2010, in Los Angeles Times as "Scott Roeder convicted of murdering abortion doctor George Tiller,"), retrieved February 16, 2017; which says "...Wichita, which became a center of the anti-abortion movement in the late 1980s and 1990s."
- ^ Welch, William M., "Abortion provider was accustomed to threats," May 31, 2009, USA Today, retrieved February 16, 2017; which says: "His practice made him a focal point in the political struggle over abortion, and his hometown became ground zero for anti-abortion activists. In 1993, Tiller was shot in both arms.... His clinic was bombed in 1985...."
- ^ Ball, Karen (Kansas City) "George Tiller's Murder: How Will It Impact the Abortion Fight?," May 31, 2009, Time magazine, retrieved February 16, 2017; which says: "George Tiller long ago erased the line between his private life and his public cause, turning his Wichita, Kans., clinic into ground zero in the fight over late-term abortions.... shot in both arms in 1993 by an antiabortion activist."
- ^ Eligon, John, "Four Years Later, Slain Abortion Doctor's Aide Steps Into the Void: Kansas Abortion Practice Set to Replace Tiller Clinic," January 25, 2013, New York Times, retrieved February 16, 2017; which says: "The [Wichita abortion] clinic was also the focal point of the "Summer of Mercy" protests in 1991... tens of thousands of abortion protesters... more than 2,000... arrested — in an event that transformed... into a national brawl."
- ^ Carmon, Irin "Kansas abortion clinic is back: Three years after George Tiller's murder by an anti-abortionist, his aide is picking up where her mentor left off," September 28, 2012, Salon, retrieved February 16, 2017; which says: "...Wichita, which has been ground zero for the abortion battle since the 1991 Summer of Mercy, when the antiabortion group Operation Rescue set up camp there."
- ^ Jehl, Douglas, "Man in the News - Turning Loss Into Victory - Daniel Robert Glickman," December 28, 1994, New York Times, retrieved February 11, 2017
- ^ Christopher J. Catizone, "Debate Addresses Abortion Politics," March 9, 2004, Harvard Crimson, retrieved February 10, 2017.
- ^ "Dan Glickman," Graduate School of Political Management, George Washington University, Washington, D.C., retrieved February 11, 2017
- ^ McNulty, Timothy J., "Incumbent's Defeat Is A Case Study In Grass-roots Politics," November 20, 1994, Chicago Tribune, retrieved February 10, 2017
- ^ a b c d "Court releases redistricting plans; bad news for two conservative Senate hopefuls," June 8, 2012, Wichita Eagle, retrieved February 12, 2017
- ^ a b c "Judges' decision moves Pratt County into 4th Congressional District," June 9, 2012, Pratt Tribune, Pratt, Kansas, retrieved February 12, 2017
- ^ "Political Geography: Kansas," March 9, 2012, in Five Thirty-Eight blog of the New York Times, retrieved February 12, 2017
- ^ a b c d e f g h Associated Press, "Estes wins special election for Kansas' 4th Congressional District," KWCH-TV News, Wichita, Kansas, Posted 3:59 PM, April 11, 2017; Updated: Wed 1:57 AM, April 12, 2017 (NOTE: The date and time posted by AP/KWCH for original publication precedes, by several hours, the closing of the polls, raising questions about the origins of this article, reporting the outcome of this relatively close election), retrieved April 12, 2017
- ^ a b c d e "Thompson plans another run for Congress," KWCH-TV News, Posted: Tue 11:30 PM, April 11, 2017, retrieved April 12, 2017
- ^ Hancock, Peter, "Former lawmaker Dennis McKinney to announce bid for Congress," January 24, 2017,, Lawrence Journal-World, retrieved February 10, 2017
- ^ Lowry, Bryan; Daniel Salazar and Dion Lefler, "Here's the latest on who's running for Pompeo's seat in Congress," January 24, 2017, Wichita Eagle, retrieved February 10, 2017
- ^ a b c http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article212306569.html.
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(help) - ^ Wise, Justin (August 8, 2018). "Rep. Ron Estes defeats opponent also named Ron Estes in GOP primary". TheHill. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
- ^ Faulx, Nadya; Bisaha, Stephan (November 7, 2018). "Estes Wins Re-Election In 4th Congressional District Over Thompson". www.kmuw.org. Retrieved September 19, 2020.
- ^ Harris, Richard, former Wichita Civil Rights Commissioner, "PEOPLE" page, Civic Affairs in Wichita website, retrieved February 10, 2017.
- ^ "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.