Pro-Life Ron Estes defeats Pro-abortion James Thompson in Kansas special election

By Kathy Ostrowski, Legislative Director, Kansans for Life

Congressman-elect Ron Estes

Congressman-elect Ron Estes

Kansans for Life (KFL) congratulates the fourth district for electing pro-life State Treasurer, Ron Estes, to replace outgoing Congressman Mike Pompeo who is now director of the CIA.

On Tuesday Estes defeated pro-abortion attorney James Thompson, who was strongly supported by pro-abortion organizations such as Planned Parenthood, 53% to 46%. Libertarian Chris Rockhold received 1%.

Pro-life Kansans clearly provided the margin of victory for Estes, maintaining an all pro-life representation for Kansas in the U.S. House and Senate.

Preliminary results from the Kansas Secretary of State’s office show Estes taking every county except Sedgwick (where the city of Wichita is located) which he lost by about 1,800 votes to Thompson.

The Kansas seat was the nation’s first special election since President Trump’s election. There are more to come, primarily because President Trump selected a number of sitting Republican office holders to be part of his administration. Thompson said he will run again in 2018.

“Ron reflects genuine Kansas values,” KFL Executive Director, Mary Kay Culp, said. “It was not widely known until very late how extreme Mr. Thompson was in his abortion position and when it did become known, he tried to pretend he held different views from those he had clearly stated.”

Thompson’s position was to “repeal all infringement on women’s right to choose abortion, including [the] Hyde amendment,” as tweeted by Wichita Eagle reporter Dion Lefler. The Hyde Amendment is credited with saving two million lives.

Repealing all ‘infringement on abortion’ is the radical position welcomed by Planned Parenthood, the nation’s largest abortion business, which endorsed Thompson.

At a March 23 forum, as reported by the Associated Press, Estes promised he’d “defund Planned Parenthood,” mentioning “the ‘disgusting’ videos [that] he says show the group was selling baby parts.”

Thompson, by contrast, claimed the video expose was “fake news” and that “Planned Parenthood has done a lot of good.”

Kansans know which position is true, and voted that way.