• by Philip Rosenstein , April 10, 2017

Despite 2017 being an off-election year, a couple of special elections are piquing the interest of national party machines in Washington D.C.

Democrats and Republicans are facing off in a contested Georgia election. But before the Georgia 6th district holds its primary on April 18, we have another special election in the Kansas 4th district tomorrow, April 11.

The House seat for the Kansas 4th was previously held by now CIA director Mike Pompeo.

In a strong Republican district, which Trump won by 27 points, there are signs of Republican concern. An attack ad has been launched by the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) against Democratic candidate James Thompson. The Congressional Leadership Fund is spending $50,000 for live calls to voters in a get-out-the-vote (GOTV) effort, according to Politico.

Further, national figures, including Vice President Mike Pence, who recorded a robocall, and Sen. Ted Cruz, who will attend a GOTV rally on Monday, have been wading into the contest.

Still, with endorsements from Daily Kos, Democracy for America and Our Revolution, Democrat Thompson has raised upwards of $250,000. Republican contender Ron Estes reached just over $300,000 in contributions, according to Ballotpedia.

Unfortunately for Thompson, the Democratic party leadership does not seem as keen on helping him as they are with Ossoff in the Georgia 6th. According to The Huffington Post, Thompson said that lack of support, underscored by no funding from the Democratic Party, was caused by “establishment thinking.”

“A lot of people don’t want to be proven wrong,” Thompson told HuffPo. “If they were in Kansas, they’d have a better idea of what’s going on.” Speaking about the volume of last-minute grassroots funding, Thompson said: “This is already a victory.”

Thompson is a huge underdog to win Tuesday’s general election, but depending on vote margins, we could get an idea of how Republican strongholds have reacted to President Trump first 80 days in office.

The Wichita-based district is also the headquarters of Republican mega-donors Koch Industries.