The Latest: Cruz says eyes of nation on Kansas House race
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Latest on Kansas' special congressional election (all times local):
5:30 p.m.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz says the Democratic left has a small impassioned group of activists who are out of their minds.
The Texas Republican told about 200 supporters of Republican Ron Estes at a rally Monday that the hard-core base is going to show up at the nation's first congressional election on Tuesday in Kansas.
He says the enemy right now is complacency.
Estes is in a tougher-than-expected race in the 4th Congressional District of southern Kansas against Democrat James Thompson. They're seeking to replace Mike Pompeo after Trump named Pompeo CIA director.
Cruz says his coming to Kansas on the eve of the election is indicative that this race matters nationally. He says the eyes of the nation are on Kansas.
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4:40 p.m.
President Donald Trump has stepped into a special congressional race in Kansas by recording a call urging prospective voters to cast their ballots for Republican candidate Ron Estes.
The Associated Press obtained a recording of the call Monday as the Estes campaign started using it ahead of Tuesday's election.
The recording was provided by a person close to the campaign who didn't want to be identified because the recording was released ahead of an official announcement. The person said it was recorded over the weekend.
Trump said in the call: "Republican Ron Estes needs your vote and needs it badly."
Estes is in a tougher-than-expected race in the 4th Congressional District of southern Kansas against Democrat James Thompson. They're seeking to replace Mike Pompeo after Trump named Pompeo CIA director.
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11:15 a.m.
Kansas' unexpectedly competitive special congressional election has pulled Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to Wichita to campaign for Republican candidate Ron Estes amid a flood of out-of-state GOP money in a late-hour scramble for votes.
His Democratic rival, James Thompson, is spending the final day of campaigning before Tuesday's election talking directly to voters. Thompson's campaign says he's countering the visit by Cruz — who vied with Donald Trump for the Republican presidential candidacy — by knocking on doors, going to diners and doing interviews.
At stake is a House seat Republicans have held for more than two decades. Trump easily won with 60 percent of the votes cast in the 17-county congressional district of south-central Kansas.
The vacancy was created when Trump chose former U.S. Rep. Mike Pompeo as his CIA director.
