James Thompson (Kansas politician)

James Thompson is a civil rights attorney practicing in Wichita, Kansas, and a U.S. Army veteran. He filed to run for the Democratic nomination, in the Kansas 4th Congressional District special election held 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. He joined the U.S. Army and served as a member of the Presidential Honor Guard. After receiving an honorable discharge, he used the GI Bill to support his education at Wichita State University. He subsequently earned his law degree at Washburn University Law School in Topeka. He was married after graduation. He and his wife, Lisa, have a daughter, Liberty.

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 State Treasurer and House Minority whip, 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, a 2016 presidential contender in the Kansas caucuses. Chris Rockhold won the Libertarian nomination for the seat.

The nomination of Thompson was greeted favorably by supporters of both of the two remaining 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." Although the Democratic national establishment rejected support for Thompson in the special election, 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."

Results

Democratic District Caucus
Candidate	First ballot	Pct.	Second ballot	Pct.
James Thompson	17	44%	21	54%
Dennis McKinney	16	41%	18	46%
Laura Lombard	3	8%	Eliminated
Charlie Walker	3	8%	Eliminated
Robert Tillman	0	0%	Eliminated

General election

Polling

Poll source	Date(s) administered	Sample size	Margin of error	Ron Estes (R)	James Thompson (D)	Chris Rockhold (L)	Undecided
Lincoln Park Strategies (D-Thompson)	March 2017	500	4.4%	56%	32%	4%	–

Results

The Associated Press called the election for Estes while he was leading by 6% with 88% of precincts reporting. The lead was 6.2% when all the votes were tallied.

Kansas's 4th congressional district special election, 2017

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Republican	Ron Estes	64,044	52.2%	−8.5%
	Democratic	James Thompson	56,435	46.0%	+16.4%
	Libertarian	Chris Rockhold	2,115	1.7%	−1.1%
Total votes			122,594	100.0%
	Republican hold