The Aug. 7 primary is just weeks away, and in the race for the 4th Congressional District, Republican candidate Ron Estes is stepping out more in his campaign against the incumbent of the same name.
Since filing to run a day before the June 1 deadline, Ron M. Estes has led a fairly quiet campaign — no TV ads, no billboards, and little contact with the media.
“We pretty much have a grassroots campaign," Estes said during a recent interview. "We’ll see how far it gets us.”
Estes says he’s running to give voters in south-central Kansas a choice in the primary. His opponent is Rep. Ron Estes, who won last year's special election to replace Mike Pompeo.
The first-time candidate says he and his wife, Ellen, who serves as his campaign treasurer and is politically active herself, are unhappy with how the incumbent has fared so far in office — and so are voters they've spoken to.
“The major thing that we hear is their dissatisfaction with the current Congress, the inability of Congress to function as it should," Estes says. "And they’re wanting change.”
He says he'll continue making the rounds in the district, meeting with voters,
Whichever Estes wins the primary will face James Thompson or Laura Lombard in the November general election.
Follow Nadya Faulx on Twitter @NadyaFaulx. To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.