Ron Estes safely holds onto Kansas 4th Congressional District seat
Updated at 10:30 p.m.:
Incumbent Estes held onto his seat and won the 4th Congressional District race, according to the Associated Press. With 575 of 633 precincts reporting, the Republican got 65% of the vote to Lombard’s 35%.
“We are very proud of the campaign we ran this year,” Lombard said in a statement. “While we didn’t win this year, it appears that we will have moved the needle for Democrats in our district. I am also glad that my son will know I fought and will continue to fight for his future.”
In a speech Tuesday night, Estes outlined his focuses for the next term: rural broadband, rebuilding the military, addressing “out-of-control” spending and working to help the aerospace industry in south-central Kansas, among other priorities.
“Today, we face an invisible threat that has affected individuals, families and businesses across the world,” Estes said. “Congress was able to work together in the early months of this pandemic, but Speaker Pelosi’s partisanship has gotten in the way of real results. That’s why today was so important – to elect leaders here in Kansas and across the country who will work toward real results.”
Updated at 9:15 p.m.:
Estes maintains his lead over Lombard with 60% of the vote to Lombard’s 40% of the vote, as 202 of 633 precincts reported.
Updated at 8:35 p.m.:
Estes continues to lead Lombard, taking 59% of the vote to Lombard’s 41% with 106 of 633 precincts reporting.
Original story:
Incumbent Republican Rep. Ron Estes is leading so far in the race against Democratic challenger Laura Lombard, initial Election results show.
Estes had 58% of the vote to Lombard’s 42% with 76 out of 633 precincts reporting as of 8:15 p.m.
The 4th Congressional District covers Wichita and surrounding communities. A poll on the politics website FiveThirtyEight projected Estes would win the traditionally Republican seat.
Estes is a former state and Sedgwick County treasurer. He was first elected to Congress in a 2017 special Election after Mike Pompeo left the seat to become director of the CIA. In 2018, Estes was reelected, defeating Democrat James Thompson.
Lombard runs an international trade consulting firm. She previously ran for the seat in 2018 and said she didn’t plan on running again this year but made the decision when no other prominent Democrats came forward. Lombard lost the 2018 Democratic primary for the seat to Thompson.
Estes recently co-sponsored a bill, the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection Act, aimed at helping aerospace manufacturers and suppliers prevent further layoffs in a year when Wichita’s signature industry has been hit hard. Under the bill, companies envisioning layoffs of 25% or more of their workforce would be eligible to apply for federal aid to pay half the salaries of their at-risk workers for up to a year.
There is no current timeline for when the bill might be discussed in committee. It was introduced in August.
The candidates were divided on issues such as health care and the federal coronavirus response. Estes said the federal government did a great job earlier in the year offering a stimulus program. Lombard, on the other hand, said Washington responded poorly to the pandemic and criticized President Donald Trump for downplaying the severity of the coronavirus.
Estes also advocated repealing the Affordable Care Act, known as “Obamacare,” but favored keeping the ACA’s coverage for people with preexisting medical conditions.
Lombard said the ACA isn’t a perfect solution to health care in America, but is better than nothing.
Inauguration day is on Jan. 20.
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 8:09 PM.
