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#REDIRECT [[2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Kansas#District 4]]
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{{Rcat shell|
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{R to related topic}}
{{Infobox person
|name = James A. Thompson
|image =
|birth_name =
|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1970|11|9}}
|birth_place = [[Wichita]], [[Kansas (U.S. state)|Kansas]], U.S.
|party = [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
|children = Liberty
|spouse = Lisa Thompson
|education = [[Wichita State University]] {{small|([[Bachelor of Science|BS]]),}} [[Washburn University]]{{small|([[ Juris Doctor|JD]])}}
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|website = {{url|http://www.votejamesthompson.com/|Campaign website}}
}}
}}

'''James Thompson''' (born November 9, 1970) is a civil rights attorney practicing in [[Wichita, Kansas]], who has represented black victims of police brutality, and is a U.S. Army veteran.<ref name=Guardian /> He filed to run for the Democratic nomination, in the [[Kansas's 4th congressional district special election, 2017|Kansas 4th Congressional District special election]] to be held on April 11, 2017, to replace Representative [[Mike Pompeo]], who had been confirmed to head the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] after having been nominated by President [[Donald Trump]].

== Personal life ==
A Wichita native, Thompson experienced homelessness as a child, growing up in Oklahoma City. He lived at one point with his stepfather in a van and dropped out of high school to support his siblings. He joined the U.S. Army and served from 1990 through 1994, including as a member of the Presidential Honor Guard. A gun owner, he earned a marksman's badge on the range. After receiving an honorable discharge, he used the [[GI Bill]] to support his education at [[Wichita State University]] where he first majored in theater, but graduated with a degree in political science.<ref name=Guardian>[https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/25/us-politics-kansas-election-red-state-blue-state How political nuance could save America], ''[The Guardian]'', Sarah Smarsh, April 25, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017.</ref> He subsequently earned his law degree at [[Washburn University Law School]] in Topeka where he founded Washburn’s Veterans Legal Association to provide legal assistance to former military who were encountering difficulties, post-discharge. He was married after his law school graduation. He and his wife, Lisa, have a daughter, Liberty, who attends a Wichita public middle school.<ref>[http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article140789033.html Thompson running against Brownback, Trump as much as Estes], ''[[Wichita Eagle]]'', Dion Lefler, March 25, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2017.</ref>

== 2017 Congressional nominating caucuses ==
Party nominees of the Republican, Democratic and Libertarian parties, in the election were chosen by a caucus of elected delegates to their respective district conventions, who cast secret ballots. The Republican party chose [[Ron Estes]], who had been Sedgwick County's Treasurer between 2005 to 2011 at which time he won his first election as [[Kansas State Treasurer]]. Estes secured the nomination on the second ballot, where former CD-4 representative [[Todd Tiahrt]] (1995-2011) finished a distant third. Candidates for the Democratic nomination included [[Dennis McKinney]], previously both the House [[Minority whip]] and Estes' predecessor as State Treasurer. Also running were Robert Tillman, the 2012 Democratic nominee for the seat, Charlie Walker, an [[Andover, Kansas]] policeman, entrepreneur Laura Lombard, and political newcomer, Thompson, who was a supporter of Vermont Senator [[Bernie Sanders]], the 2016 presidential winner in the Kansas caucuses. Chris Rockhold won the Libertarian nomination for the seat.<ref name= Lefler /><ref name=Guardian />

The nomination of Thompson was greeted favorably by supporters of each of those two remaining Democratic candidates. Kansas House [[Minority leader]] [[Jim Ward]] said, "The eyes of the country are upon us," "Have no doubt about that this is going to be a referendum on Trump policies." Ward said a Thompson victory in a heavily Republican district would put Trump on notice to "...stay in his own lane." Trump scares solid Republicans who voted for him in November, Ward continued, "...just like he scares us, and they’re not sure if they made the right decision."<ref name= Lefler />

===Results===
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
! colspan="5" {{party shading/Democratic}} | Democratic District Caucus
|- style="background:#eee; text-align:center;"
! scope="col" style="width: 12em" |Candidate
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |First ballot
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Pct.
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Second ballot
! scope="col" style="width: 5em" |Pct.
|-
!scope="row| '''{{sort|Thompson|[[James Thompson (Kansas politician)|James Thompson]]}}'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''17'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''44%'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''21'''
| style="text-align:center;"| '''54%'''
|-
! scope="row" | {{sortname|Dennis|McKinney}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 16
| style="text-align:center;"| 41%
| style="text-align:center;"| 18
| style="text-align:center;"| 46%
|-
!scope="row| {{sort|Lombard|Laura Lombard}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 8%
| colspan=2 style="text-align:center; background:#cbcbcb"| {{sort|00|''Eliminated''}}
|-
!scope="row| {{sort|Walker|Charlie Walker}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 3
| style="text-align:center;"| 8%
| colspan=2 style="text-align:center; background:#cbcbcb"| {{sort|00|''Eliminated''}}
|-
!scope="row| {{sort|Tillman|Robert Tillman}}
| style="text-align:center;"| 0
| style="text-align:center;"| 0%
| colspan=2 style="text-align:center; background:#cbcbcb"| {{sort|00|''Eliminated''}}
|}

== Special election ==
Although the Democratic national establishment rejected support for Thompson in the special election,<ref name=Times2>[https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/kansas-house-special-election-district-4 Live Results: G.O.P. Keeps Control of House Seat in Kansas Special Election], ''[[New York Times]]'', Wilson Andrews, Matthew Bloch, Jeremy Bowers and Adam Pearce, April 12, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2017.</ref> Republicans nevertheless equated Thompson to a "rubber stamp" for House Majority Leader [[Nancy Pelosi]] of California, as state Republican Chairman Kelly Arnold characterized him. Arnold conversely lauded Estes as a, "...principled conservative who is committed to finding solutions, repealing Obamacare, balancing the budget, and keeping our nation safe.” Thompson anticipated that Republicans would try to exploit divisions amongst establishment Clinton supporters, versus insurgent Sanders backers, but gave his reassurances: "... people do want to see a different set of policies that are good for everyone, instead of just the rich and powerful."<ref name= Lefler>{{cite web|url=http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article132183819.html|title=Lawyer James Thompson wins Democratic nomination for Congress|work=[[The Wichita Eagle]]|last=Lefler|first=Dion|date=February 11, 2017|accessdate=September 23, 2017}}</ref>

In the first debate between special election candidates, the only one only Estes attended and where they were joined by Rockhold's campaign manager, Thompson told Estes, "At the end of the day we need somebody who’s going to be able to stand up to Donald Trump," "From my perspective, I haven’t seen you stand up to Sam Brownback. So if you can’t stand up to him, I can’t see you standing up to Donald Trump."<ref name=Lefler /> Thompson said his litigation background in law provides him with an advantage in helping to overcome partisan gridlock in Congress. “As an attorney, we have to work to resolve cases.” “Ninety-six percent of all civil cases settle. The reason why is because once you get your evidence together, you sit down and you know your weaknesses and you know your strengths and you sit down with the other side and you negotiate out a deal.” Regarding Congress, he continued, “Somewhere along the way we’ve lost the ability to compromise,” Thompson, the vet, brought a particular, personal focus to veterans' issues. A brother-in-law with PTSD committed suicide. “I don’t ever want a family to go through that, and I’m hoping we can stop our veterans from feeling...lost to the point that they do something like that to themselves. If we’ve got the money to go to war, we need to make sure that we have the money to take care of our veterans when they come back.”<ref name= Lefler /> In their single election debate, where he joined pro-choice supporter, Thompson, and the campaign manager for Libertarian candidate Chris Rockhold, Estes repeated the long-discredited claim that Planned Parenthood had been profiting by selling parts of aborted fetuses.<ref>[http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article140363878.html Congressional front-runners Estes, Thompson clash in first debate], ''[[Wichita Eagle]]'', Dion Lefler & Daniel Salazar, March 23, 2017. Retrieved September 25, 2017.</ref>

Thompson also felt that education is a critical issue for adults and children alike, and that support from teachers and free school lunches factored heavily into his personal climb out of childhood poverty. Believing in public schools, he opposes the policies of Trump’s [[Secretary of Education]], billionaire [[Betsy DeVos]], a fierce advocate for taking taxpayer money from public schools. Thompson stated it was imperative to make "...sure higher education is affordable and accessible.” He's painfully aware of the student loan debt crisis, as he’ll be paying off his college loans until 2034, when he’s 64 and he expressed strong support for “opportunities for people who don’t want to go to college,” including union apprenticeships and trade schools.<ref name=Lefler />

The district had been [[gerrymandered]] to become more conservative in 1992, after liberal Hutchinson and Reno county were moved into CD-1, and again in 2012, when Greenwood county in southeastern Kansas had been moved out.<ref>[http://www.kansas.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/article1093440.html Court releases redistricting plans; bad news for two conservative Senate hopefuls], ''[[Wichita Eagle]]'', Dion Lefler, June 8, 2012.</ref> Pompeo won the district by 31 points and Trump by 27 points, five months earlier.<ref name= RollCall>[http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/republican-narrowly-wins-first-special-election-trump-presidency Republican Wins Tough First Special Election of Trump Presidency], ''[[Roll Call]]'', Simone Pathé, April 11, 2017. Retrieved September 24, 2017.</ref> Since 2004, Republican winning margins had only dropped below 30% in 2010, when Pompeo held a 23% edge in his first election.

Still Thompson, with far less campaign contributions than Estes, in a low-turnout special election, managed to make the election competitive, even winning, 41,293 to 39,419 votes, in Sedgwick county where about two-thirds of all the election's votes were cast, and no Democrat had won since 1996.<ref name=Guardian /> Estes was well known there, having served as the County Treasurer from 2005 to 2011.<ref name= RollCall /> Estes’ slim victory margin in such a historically safe Republican district was expected to draw far more scrutiny than his win might do. Trump carried the district by 27 points in November, with then-Rep. Pompeo winning re-election by 31 points.<ref name= RollCall /> The day after the election, Trump tweeted, congratulating Estes for "easily winning" a race in which he claimed that Democrats "spent heavily and predicted victory." In fact, the [[Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee]] (DNCC) barely spent anything on the race, limiting itself to making robocalls the day before the race, nor did they forecast a win.<ref name= RollCall /><ref name=Weigel /> The [[Democratic National Committee]](DNC) pointedly gave Thompson no help at all, and the state Democratic party, flush with funds, chipped in only $3,000 at the last minute.<ref name= RollCall /><ref name=Weigel /> Thompson's campaign had asked the state party to fund a mailer, but it flatly rejected the request. The Republican party, however called in last-minute reinforcements: House Speaker [[Paul Ryan]] emailed a fundraising plea. Trump and [[Mike Pence]] made robocall recordings for Estes. “Ron Estes needs your vote and needs it badly,” Trump said on the call. “Ron is going to be helping us, big league.”<ref name=Weigel /> Even [[Ted Cruz]] headlined an afternoon rally in Wichita the day prior to the election. The [[National Republican Congressional Committee]] (NRCC) spent $92,000 for digital and TV ads in the final week. The Congressional Leadership Fund, the House GOP leadership [[Super PAC]], funded their own five-figure investment in robocalls. Last minute figures had Estes receiving $459,000, Thompson $292,000.<ref name=Times2 /> An estimated 90% of Thompson's campaign contributions averaging $20, came from across the country, and 75% of calls to constituents were made by out-of-state supporters.<ref name=Guardian />

Outside Democratic groups and prominent party leaders, which were pouring tens of millions in contributions in Georgia ahead of its April 18th special election contest, meanwhile, almost entirely avoided participation in the race, save for the last-minute get-out-the-vote (GOTV) calls beginning the day before what may have been a bellwether election.<ref name= RollCall /><ref name=Weigel>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/in-kansas-a-close-congressional-race-surprises-republicans/2017/04/10/8f0085e8-1e05-11e7-ad74-3a742a6e93a7_story.html Kansas, a close congressional race surprises Republicans], ''[[Washington Post]]'', Dave Weigel, April 10, 2017. Retrieved September 24 2017.</ref>

===Polling===
{| class="wikitable"
|- valign= bottom
! style="width:255px;"| Poll source
! style="width:160px;"| Date(s)<br />administered
! class=small | Sample<br />size
! class=small | <small>Margin of</small><br />error
! style="width:100px;"| Ron<br />Estes (R)
! style="width:100px;"| James<br />Thompson (D)
! style="width:100px;"| Chris<br />Rockhold (L)
! Undecided
|-
| [http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/kansas-democratic-congressional-candidate-feuds-with-party Lincoln Park Strategies (D-Thompson)]
| align=center| March 2017
| align=center| 500
| align=center| 4.4%
| {{party shading/Republican}} align=center| '''56%'''
| align=center| 32%
| align=center| 4%
| align=center| –
{{Election box end}}

===Results===
The [[Associated Press]] called the election for Estes while he was leading by 6% with 88% of precincts reporting. The well-known Republican's lead had been reduced to only 6.2% when all the votes were tallied, a drop from a 24% Estes polling lead just a few weeks earlier. Support for Rockhold, the Libertarian candidate who personally attended or was represented at all the debates, dropped over 65% in the same time period.<ref>[http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/328362-live-results-kansas-special-election Live results Kansas Special Election], ''[[The Hill]]'', Lisa Hagen, April 11, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2017.</ref><ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/kansas-house-special-election-district-4 Live Results: Republicans Defend House Seat in Kansas Special Election], ''[[New York Times]]'', Wilson Andrews, Matthew Bloch, Jeremy Bowers and Adam Pearce, April 12, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2017</ref> The remarkable closeness of the results drew national and international attention, from [[Fortune Magazine]] to multiple post-election articles in Great Britain's [[The Guardian|Guardian]], a major newspaper which quoted Thompson after he quickly filed his candidate's papers for the next general election: “One of the reasons I want to run in 2018 is that I’ll have 18 months to go and talk to people instead of 60 days,”.<ref name=Guardian />

{{Election box begin|title=Kansas's 4th congressional district special election, 2017<ref>[http://www.kssos.org/elections/17elec/2017_Special_Election_Official_Results.pdf 2017 Special Election Official Results], ''[[Kansas Secretary of State]]''. Retrieved September 23, 2017.</ref>}}
{{Election box winning candidate with party link|candidate=[[Ron Estes]]|change=-8.5%|party=Republican Party (United States)|votes=64,044|percentage=52.2%}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|candidate=James Thompson|change=+16.4%|party=Democratic Party (United States)|votes=56,435|percentage=46.0%}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|candidate=Chris Rockhold|change=-1.1%|party=Libertarian Party (United States)|votes=2,115|percentage=1.7%}}
{{Election box total|change=|votes=122,594|percentage=100.0%}}
{{Election box hold with party link no swing|winner=Republican Party (United States)|loser=Democratic Party (United States)}}
{{Election box end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, James}}
[[Category:1970 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Latest revision as of 17:34, 10 January 2019

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