Kansas Treasurer Ron Estes exploring Congress run if Pompeo challenges Moran

State Treasurer Ron Estes said Tuesday he is testing the waters for a run at the 4th District congressional seat if incumbent Mike Pompeo gives it up to run against Sen. Jerry Moran.

A former Sedgwick County treasurer, Estes announced that he has formed an exploratory committee for the race in the Wichita-centered district. That allows him to begin the process of determining whether he has enough support to campaign for the seat.

Estes said he won’t run against Pompeo. But he said Pompeo told him last week that he was considering challenging Moran and would soon announce his decision.

Estes cited the federal deficit and the high cost of college as two issues motivating his run.

He said he worries that his children and grandchildren will struggle to pay back the national debt, currently about $19 billion and rising. He said he’s researching federal programs in an effort to determine which ones are no longer filling the purpose for which they were originally created.

In addition, he said his experience running the state’s Learning Quest college savings program has shown him that ordinary families can’t generally save enough to pay for their children’s education. Although Estes said he does not support Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders’ call for tuition-free college, he thinks steps can be taken to contain costs and ease the debt burden on students.

Estes said part of his exploration process is to hear from Kansans about issues affecting them. He has set up a website at www.talktoronestes.com to take voter comments.

So far, the only candidate for either party who has committed to running for the 4th District seat is Wichita attorney Dan Giroux.

This story was originally published April 19, 2016 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Kansas Treasurer Ron Estes exploring Congress run if Pompeo challenges Moran."