Tea party’s Tim Huelskamp ousted by challenger Roger Marshall in Kansas congressional race

U.S. Rep. Tim Huelskamp — the most vulnerable member of Kansas’ congressional delegation — was knocked out by challenger Roger Marshall in the 1st Congressional District Republican primary Tuesday night.

In other Kansas races, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran and U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder both advanced in their bids for re-election in November.

1st District: Huelskamp, the chairman of the House Tea Party Caucus, has garnered a lot of attention as well as scorn during a combative tenure that saw him booted off the House Agricultural Committee.

On Tuesday, voters booted Huelskamp from Congress. He received 44 percent of the vote to Marshall’s 56 percent.

Marshall, an obstetrician from Great Bend, gained the endorsement of the Kansas Farm Bureau — giving him some clout against Huelskamp’s backing from anti-abortion and gun-rights groups, as well as the Club for Growth and the National Federation of Independent Business.

Earlier in the evening, multiple TV and newspaper reporters were kicked out of Huelskamp’s “victory” headquarters in Hutchinson, with no explanation offered.

The race drew millions of dollars in outside money, including $400,000 from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce alone.

In a statement, Rob Engstrom, the chamber’s national political director, called Marshall’s victory “decisive.”

“Governing was on the ballot,” he said in a statement Tuesday, “and voters spoke clearly.”

Huelskamp rode into office in the 2010 tea party rout and was part of standoffs, including tension around the government shutdown in 2013, that drove House Speaker John Boehner from office a year ago.

No Democrats filed for the election, but Libertarian Kerry Burt and independent candidate Alan LaPolice are expected to be on the general election ballot in November.

2nd District: None of the party candidates faced opposition in the primaries. Incumbent Republican Lynn Jenkins will face Democrat Britani Potter and Libertarian James Houston Bales in November.

3rd District: Yoder easily eclipsed his challenger, retired military officer Greg Goode of Louisburg. Yoder received 64 percent of the votes to Goode’s 36 percent.

On the Democratic side, Jay Sidie of Mission Woods came out on top in a three-way race, beating Nathaniel W. McLaughlin of Kansas City, Kan., and Reggie Marselus of Lenexa. Sidie received 42 percent, McLaughlin 36 percent and Marselus 22 percent.

Steve Hohe, the Libertarian candidate, also will be on the ballot in November.

4th District: Incumbent Republican Mike Pompeo was unopposed in his primary.

In November, he will face Wichita attorney Daniel B. Giroux, who won the Democratic primary over retired Wichita court services officer Robert Leon Tillman, 52 percent to 48 percent.

Other candidates in November will be Libertarian Gordon Bakken and independent Miranda Allen.

U.S. Senate: Moran rolled over a challenge from D.J. Smith, a former Osawatomie City Council member who raised little or no money for her campaign.

Moran received 79 percent of the vote.

In the Democratic primary, Lawrence attorney Patrick Wiesner beat Monique Singh-Bey of Kansas City, Kan., who ran as a part of a national effort by the Universal African Peoples Organization to help more black candidates win elected offices. Wiesner received 63 percent of the vote.

Also on the November ballot will be Libertarian candidate Robert Garrard.

This story was originally published August 2, 2016 at 8:49 PM with the headline "Tea party’s Tim Huelskamp ousted by challenger Roger Marshall in Kansas congressional race."