Ron Estes speaks to reporters during an election night party in Topeka, Kan., on Nov. 2, 2010. | AP Photo House Republicans pump last-minute money into Kansas special election

The NRCC is pouring money into a last-minute TV ad buy in Kansas ahead of a Tuesday special election, seeking to pump up Republican enthusiasm and turnout in a district that President Donald Trump carried by 27 percentage points just a few months ago.

The late independent expenditure seeks to boost Republican state Treasurer Ron Estes, who is running to replace CIA Director Mike Pompeo in Kansas' 4th District. The district has not been on the radar of most national groups and activists, which have focused on the upcoming special election in Georgia as a more competitive opportunity. But Kansas Republicans are fretting that Estes' margin is closer than expected in his race against Democrat James Thompson, an attorney.


“Kansas should not be in play, but Kansas is in play," said one Kansas Republican consultant.

The ad plays to the GOP's base ahead of the expected low-turnout special election, attacking Thompson's positions on abortion.

"It's just plain wrong. James Thompson supports late-term abortions, even using your tax dollars to pay for abortions," the ad's narrator says over ominous music and lighting. "It gets worse. James Thompson supports abortion even if the parents don't like the gender of their baby."

The ad says Thompson is "too extreme for Kansas" before cutting to praise Estes, who "defends the culture of life," the narrator says, noting Estes' endorsement from Kansans for Life. It urges voters to "stand up for life" on April 11.

The ad started airing on cable and broadcast stations on Thursday, and will continue through Election Day. The NRCC is spending at least $67,000 to air the ad in the final days of the special election, according to a local TV contract, along with $25,000 in recent spending on digital ads.

"We're happy to help in this small way and show our support for Ron Estes," NRCC spokesman Jesse Hunt wrote in an email. "We look forward to Ron coming to Congress and standing up for Kansas values."

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The unexpected GOP financial assistance is coming for Estes even as Thompson hasn't been able to rally financial support from the state's Democratic Party, which rejected a request from Thompson for a $20,000 mailer campaign, The Wichita Eagle reported. Thompson's campaign accused the state party of "sitting on the sidelines."

The NRCC and the GOP is already under mounting pressure from worried Republicans in Georgia, where the NRCC's independent expenditure unit has already poured $2.2 million into boosting Republican turnout in the hotly contested special election there. Democrat Jon Ossoff has raised more than $8.3 million to boost his campaign, a staggering amount for a House candidate, on the eve of an all-party primary to replace HHS Secretary Tom Price in Congress. Ossoff is angling to win 50 percent of the vote in the all-party primary, which would win him the seat under Georgia's special election rules.