Kansas's 4th congressional district

Kansas's 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Kansas. Based in the south central part of the state, the district encompasses the city of Wichita, the largest city in Kansas, three universities, Arkansas City, and the State of Kansas's only national airport.

The 4th congressional district is historically a strongly Republican district, almost exclusively represented, over the last half century, by Republicans—with the sole exception of moderate Democrat Dan Glickman, who lost his bid for re-election to a 10th term in 1994.

As of mid-April 2017 (following a special election to fill the district seat left vacant by Mike Pompeo's resignation to become CIA Director), no other Democrat has won election to the Congressional seat lost by Glickman, which has since gone to conservative, anti-abortion Republicans, routinely, by a roughly two-to-one margin in subsequent races—with the exception of the April 11, 2017 special election, in which Democrat James Thompson managed to narrow the gap with Republican victor Ron Estes to only 6.2%.

History

Since the 1980s (and peaking with the 1991 Summer of Mercy protests), the district's major city, Wichita (where most 4th district voters reside), is often referred to in national media as the center, or "ground zero", of the nation's anti-abortion movement—a primary factor that Glickman has credited for his defeat,—and which has remained a major influence in 4th district politics, with all three of Glickman's successors (Todd Tiahrt, Mike Pompeo and Ron Estes) claiming strong anti-abortion views. In the 2017 Special Election to fill Pompeo's vacated seat, a critical factor in Estes' unusually narrow victory over the Democrat (James Thompson) was a string of last-minute ads tying Thompson to his pro-abortion stance.

2016 elections

In the 2016 general election, incumbent Republican Mike Pompeo was overwhelmingly re-elected to the seat, with a 31% (85,000-vote) lead over his Democratic rival. (as happened with Pompeo's previous Democratic challengers He was challenged in the primaries by a candidate with a similar name, Ron M. Estes. This led to a conundrum as to how the candidates should be distinguished on the ballot, with Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach claiming that Ron G. Estes can include the prefix "Rep." on the ballot according to Kansas law, although Ron M. Estes claimed that this was unfair. In the Democratic primary for Congress, Laura Lombard lost to James Thompson, who was defeated by Ron G. Estes in the 2017 special election.

2000 demographics

Most of the approximately 670,000 citizens of the fourth district reside in the state's largest city, Wichita (approximate population 390,000), or the surrounding Sedgwick County (approximate population 511,000). Nearly all live within the Wichita MSA (approximate population 650,000). The rest live in small towns and rural areas in adjacent counties, and counties farther west and east.

Following redistricting after the 2000 U.S. census, there were 672,101 people, 261,106 households, and 177,358 families residing in the district. The population density was 70.5/mi2 over a land area of . There were 285,830 housing units at an average density of 30.0/mi2. The racial makeup of the district is 83.56% White, 6.86% Black or African American, 2.44% Asian, 1.23% Native American, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 3.28% from other races, and 2.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 6.57% of the population.

There were 261,106 households, out of which 36.53% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.87% were married couples living together, 10.14% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.07% were non-families. 27.62% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.99% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.10.

In the district the population distribution by age is 27.69% under the age of 18, 9.13% from 18 to 24, 28.98% from 25 to 44, 21.19% from 45 to 64, and 13.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35.0 years. For every 100 females there were 97.32 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.67 males.

The median income for a household in the district is $40,917, and the median income for a family was $49,650. Males had a median income of $36,701 versus $25,237 for females. The per capita income for the district was $20,041. About 7.0% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.1% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.

Among the population aged 16 years and older, 66.4% was in the civilian labor force and 0.6% were in the armed forces. Of the employed civilian workers, 12.5% were government workers and 6.7% were self-employed. Management, professional, and related occupations employed 31.5% of the work force and sales and office occupations an additional 25.5%. Only 0.5% are employed in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations. The largest employment by industry was: manufacturing, 24.1%; educational, health and social services, 20.8%; and retail trade, 11.0%. Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, and mining industries only employed 2.0%.

Composition

The 4th district includes the entirety of the following counties with the exception of Pawnee, which it shares with the 1st district. Pawnee County cities within the 4th district include Garfield and portions of Larned.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

!County

!Seat

!Population

|Barber

|Medicine Lodge

|4,071

|15

|Butler

|El Dorado

|68,632

|19

|Chautauqua

|Sedan

|3,347

|33

|Comanche

|Coldwater

|1,655

|35

|Cowley

|Winfield

|34,157

|47

|Edwards

|Kinsley

|2,733

|49

|Elk

|Howard

|2,467

|73

|Greenwood

|Eureka

|5,870

|77

|Harper

|Anthony

|5,435

|79

|Harvey

|Newton

|33,504

|95

|Kingman

|7,066

|97

|Kiowa

|Greensburg

|2,374

|145

|Pawnee

|Larned

|6,126

|151

|Pratt

|9,082

|173

|Sedgwick

|Wichita

|528,469

|185

|Stafford

|St. John

|3,909

|191

|Sumner

|Wellington

|22,334

List of members representing the district

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"

|- style="height:3em"

! Member

! Party

! Years

! Cong ress

! Electoral history

! District maps

|- style="height:3em"

| colspan=6 | District created March 4, 1885

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Thomas Ryan

| | Republican

| nowrap | March 4, 1885 – April 4, 1889

| Redistricted from the and re-elected in 1884. Re-elected in 1886. Re-elected in 1888. Resigned to become U.S. Minister to Mexico.

| rowspan=14 |

|- style="height:3em"

| colspan=2 | Vacant

| nowrap | April 4, 1889 – December 2, 1889

| rowspan=2 |

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left |100px Harrison Kelley

| | Republican

| nowrap | December 2, 1889 – March 3, 1891

| Elected to finish Ryan's term. Retired.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px John G. Otis

| | Populist

| nowrap | March 4, 1891 – March 3, 1893

| Elected in 1890. Lost renomination.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Charles Curtis

| | Republican

| nowrap | March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1899

| Elected in 1892. Re-elected in 1894. Re-elected in 1896. Redistricted to the .

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left |100px James M. Miller

| | Republican

| nowrap | March 4, 1899 – March 3, 1911

| Elected in 1898. Re-elected in 1900. Re-elected in 1902. Re-elected in 1904. Re-elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Lost renomination.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Fred S. Jackson

| | Republican

| nowrap | March 4, 1911 – March 3, 1913

| Elected in 1910. Lost re-election.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Dudley Doolittle

| | Democratic

| nowrap | March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1919

| Elected in 1912. Re-elected in 1914. Re-elected in 1916. Lost re-election.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Homer Hoch

| | Republican

| nowrap | March 4, 1919 – March 3, 1933

| Elected in 1918. Re-elected in 1920. Re-elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Re-elected in 1930. Lost re-election.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left |100px Randolph Carpenter

| | Democratic

| nowrap | March 4, 1933 – January 3, 1937

| Elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. Retired.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Edward H. Rees

| | Republican

| nowrap | January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1961

| Elected in 1936. Re-elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Re-elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1944. Re-elected in 1946. Re-elected in 1948. Re-elected in 1950. Re-elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Retired.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Garner E. Shriver

| | Republican

| nowrap | January 3, 1961 – January 3, 1977

| Elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Lost re-election.

|- style="height:3em"

| align=left | 100px Dan Glickman

| | Democratic

| nowrap | January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1995

| Elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Re-elected in 1992. Lost re-election.

|- style="height:3em"

| rowspan=2 align=left | 100px Todd Tiahrt

| rowspan=2 | Republican

| rowspan=2 nowrap | January 3, 1995 – January 3, 2011

| rowspan=2 |

| rowspan=2 | Elected in 1994. Re-elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Re-elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Retired to run for U.S. Senator.

|- style="height:3em"

| rowspan=2 | 2003–2013 300px

|- style="height:3em"

| rowspan=2 align=left nowrap | 100px Mike Pompeo

| rowspan=2 | Republican

| rowspan=2 nowrap | January 3, 2011 – January 23, 2017

| rowspan=2 |

| rowspan=2 | Elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Re-elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Resigned to become Director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

|- style="height:3em"

| rowspan=3 | 2013–2023 300px

|- style="height:3em"

| colspan=2 | Vacant

| nowrap | January 23, 2017 – April 11, 2017

|- style="height:3em"

| rowspan=2 align=left | 100px Ron Estes

| rowspan=2 | Republican

| rowspan=2 nowrap | April 11, 2017– present

| rowspan=2 |

| rowspan=2 | Elected to finish Pompeo's term. Re-elected in 2018. Re-elected in 2020. Re-elected in 2022. Re-elected in 2024.

|- style="height:3em"

| 2023–present 300px

Recent election results from statewide races

{| class=wikitable

! Year

! Office

! Results

|rowspan=2|2008

| President

| align="right" |McCain 58% - 39%

| Senate

| align="right" |Roberts 65% - 35%

||2012

| President

| align="right" |Romney 61% - 36%

|rowspan=2|2016

| President

| align="right" |Trump 59% - 32%

| Senate

| align="right" |Moran 64% - 30%

|rowspan=4|2018

| Governor

| align="right" |Kobach 45.4% - 44.7%

| Secretary of State

| align="right" |Schwab 54% - 43%

| Attorney General

| align="right" |Schmidt 62% - 38%

| Treasurer

| align="right" |LaTurner 61% - 39%

|rowspan=2|2020

| President

| align="right" |Trump 60% - 38%

| Senate

| align="right" |Marshall 56% - 39%

|rowspan=5|2022

| Senate

| align="right" |Moran 64% - 33%

| Governor

| align="right" |Schmidt 51% - 46%

| Secretary of State

| align="right" |Schwab 62% - 35%

| Attorney General

| align="right" |Kobach 55% - 45%

| Treasurer

| align="right" |Johnson 57% - 40%

||2024

| President

| align="right" |Trump 61% - 37%

Recent election results

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2017 special election

2018

2020

2022

2024

Historical district boundaries

thumb|left|

In 2012, in an unusual move, the federal courts intervened in Kansas's decennial redistricting (required by law to adjust boundaries of Congressional and state legislative districts every 10 years, to reflect changing population distributions, as reported by the decennial census).