It’s not often that a sitting Republican president, vice president, a former presidential candidate and senator and the speaker of the House make an effort days before a special election to hold what’s supposed to be a safe GOP seat.

“Today, the eyes of the whole country are on Kansas,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz said at a Monday rally for state Treasurer Ron Estes, the GOP nominee in the 4th District.

The same day, President Donald Trump recorded a robocall for Estes, who, based on the late involvement of national Republicans, finds himself in a closer-than-expected election to fill the seat vacated by Trump’s CIA Director Mike Pompeo.

“This is an important election,” Trump says on the call. “There’s really few very much more important.”

Shaping the narrative

But the real drama in Kansas’ 4th District may not be whether Estes wins Tuesday night, but rather by how much. Both parties will likely use that margin to shape their political narratives going forward ahead of another special election in a much more competitive district next week.