WICHITA — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz plans to come to Wichita to campaign for Republican candidate Ron Estes ahead of a special congressional election.
The Estes campaign announced that Cruz would appear with the candidate during a Monday afternoon rally at Yingling Aviation. The special election is Tuesday in the 4th Congressional District of south-central Kansas.
Estes is the state treasurer and he’s running to replace Mike Pompeo after Pompeo’s appointment as CIA director.
The Democratic candidate is civil rights attorney James Thompson. Flight simulator instructor Chris Rockhold is running as a Libertarian.
Cruz won the state’s presidential caucuses last year. Estes initially backed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio but is a longtime Republican activist.
Thompson spokesman Chris Pumpelly said the last-minute Cruz visit is a sign Republicans are panicking about the race.
