Now this is interesting: Despite the fact that Kansas's 4th Congressional District is dark red (Trump won it 60-33), and despite the fact that Republican Ron Estes's soft fundraising certainly hasn't suggested he's worried about Tuesday's special election, the NRCC has jumped in with about $90,000 in last-minute spending, on both digital and television ads.
In the TV spot, a narrator hits Democrat James Thompson on abortion, accusing him of a litany of sins: supporting "late-term abortions," "using your tax dollars to pay for abortions," and "abortion even if the parents don't like the gender of their baby." Politico's Elena Schneider explains that local Republicans "are fretting that Estes' margin is closer than expected," and one unnamed GOP consultant even says, "Kansas should not be in play, but Kansas is in play."
Amusingly, an NRCC spokesman tried to make it sound as though the committee was pleased about this turn of events, preposterously saying, "We're happy to help in this small way and show our support for Ron Estes." Uh no, no they're not happy at all. Frustratingly, though, if there's an opportunity here, local Democrats don't seem to be taking advantage of it. Thompson's campaign recently asked the Kansas Democratic Party to spend $20,000 on mailers to boost Thompson, but the party declined to get involved.
An upset here would be extraordinary beyond measure, but in this strange, unprecedented political environment, even the NRCC isn't willing to rule one out. A lot of Kansas Democrats, though, don't seem to feel the same way.
