Failed Democratic KS04 Candidate Says Democrats Write Off Red States

Same song, different dance for the DCCC.

The KS-04 Democratic candidate James Thompson is placing blame on the DCCC for his loss last night, citing the relatively nonexistent involvement of the Democratic House campaign arm.

Thompson continued that while Republicans reacted quickly with full effort, Democrats chose to sit out a challenge.

Via The Hill

The Democrat who barely lost in Kansas’s special House election Tuesday says his party can’t neglect races in deep-red districts.

“Whether it’s likely we win or unlikely we win, we need to be fighting each and every race,” Thompson told ThinkProgress in a Wednesday interview. “As I’ve shown here, just because something is designated safe [for Republicans] doesn’t mean it is.”

The GOP poured resources into the race in its final days, as fears grew that Thompson was keeping it close. Trump recorded a robocall for Estes, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) stumped for him in the district.

Thompson said that national Democrats like the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) should be conducting polls in every race, like Republicans do, as a litmus test of the party’s chances in various races.

“The Republicans have shown that they give full effort in every race and that’s what DCCC needs to be doing as well.”

The DCCC largely stayed out of the race, but in the final two days of the race, they helped with making 25,000 live calls to encourage voter turnout.

“It would have been nice to have seen more involvement and seen them reacting as quickly as the Republicans did,” Thompson said.