Republican U.S. Rep. Ron Estes will stay in Congress after winning re-election Tuesday night in Kansas’ 4th District.
With about 95% of precincts reporting by 11:45 p.m., unofficial results show Estes received 65% of the vote over Democratic challenger Laura Lombard, who received 35%.
"I’m looking forward to going back to Washington and serving with representatives from the other three congressional districts in Kansas and making sure that we can focus on what we need to move the country forward," Estes told supporters at an event in east Wichita.
This will be Estes’ second full term; he was first elected in a close 2017 special election to replace now-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and easily won his re-election bid in 2018. Prior to serving in Congress, Estes was Kansas’ state treasurer.
Estes and Lombard, an international trade specialist who ran unsuccessfully for Democratic nominations in 2017 and 2018, disagreed on most major issues throughout their campaigns. In his speech to supporters Tuesday night, Estes said after months of politics, the country needs to put Election Day behind it and "move forward."
"We need to get back together and work on things that are better for Kansas and better for the country," he said.
He advocated for more bipartisanship in the next term.
"I’d like to figure out ways to do that, figure out ways that Republicans and Democrats can work together and that we can focus on implementing good policies that help the country and help people in the country," he told reporters after his race was called.
In a statement on her campaign Facebook page Wednesday, Lombard called the results "disappointing to say the least — not just the results in my race but for many across Kansas and the country."
"But we must keep fighting for the country we love and the bright future we hope for ourselves and for our children. "
The district has historically been represented by a Republican. Only three Democrats have held the seat in the past century, the last being Dan Glickman, who lost his bid for a 10th term in 1994.
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