Republican Ron Estes held on to a heavily Republican congressional district in Kansas on Tuesday, but the special election was closer that GOP officials would have liked in a district that President Donald Trump won by 27 percentage points.

Estes, the state treasurer, defeated Democrat James Thompson 52.5 percent to 45.7 percent, according to complete but unofficial results.

“Ron has been deeply involved in his community for years, and I’m confident he will be a strong voice for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in Washington, D.C.”

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“Ron has been deeply involved in his community for years, and I’m confident he will be a strong voice for Kansas’ 4th Congressional District in Washington, D.C.,” House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said in a statement congratulating the GOP candidate. “Whether in the manufacturing industry or in public office, Ron has always worked to improve efficiency and find savings.”

The race to replace former Rep. Mike Pompeo, who resigned to become the director of the CIA, was the first big test of Democratic anger of Trump. But it was an unlikely spot to make a stand, and Thompson was an unlikely candidate to do it.

The southern Kansas district, dominated by Wichita and its suburbs, has been represented by Republicans since the 1994 wave election that gave the party control of the House of Representatives for the first time since the 1950s. Pompeo cruised to re-election in November with 61 percent of the vote.

But Thompson benefited from Trump’s low approval ratings, a deeply unpopular Republican governor, and a state GOP that has been hampered by infighting.

[lz_table title=”Kansas 4th District” source=”New York Times”]Candidate,Votes,Pct.
Ron Estes (R),63505,52.5%
James Thompson (D),55310,44.7%
Chris Rockhold (L),2082,1.7%
[/lz_table]

Still, Thompson is far too liberal to win in a place like the 4th Congressional District in a normal year. The civil rights lawyer is a Bernie Sanders Democrat and proudly touted his endorsement from the 2016 presidential candidate’s political group, Our Revolution.

Estes was well-positioned, having name recognition from his statewide office and having raised at least $459,000. That far outpaced Thompson, who raised $292,000, mostly on small donations.

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National Republicans showed some concern in the closing days of the race, however. The Republican Congressional Campaign Committee dumped $130,000 into the race. In addition, Trump recorded a robo-call for Estes, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) made a late visit to the district.

The Democratic Party, meanwhile, spent relatively little.

But Estes ended up winning 16 of the district’s 17 counties.

With the Kansas race over, attention will shift to next week’s free-for-all in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, left vacant when Tom Price became health and human services secretary.

A variety of factors give progressives great hope there. Unlike Pompeo’s district, Trump barely won in the Georgia 6th district, and the main Democratic candidate is much better-funded than Thompson was. In addition, there is a huge field of mostly Republican candidates who have trained their fire on one another, while documentary filmmaker Jon Ossoff largely has had the Democratic field to himself.

Under rules of the contest, every candidate regardless of party runs on Tuesday. If no one wins 50 percent, a runoff will be held in June. Ossoff, backed by a bevy of liberal celebrities, has hitched his hopes to winning outright on Tuesday and avoiding a one-on-one runoff.