Political newcomer Roger Marshall, an obstetrician and self-described peacemaker, defeated three-term Rep. Tim Huelskamp, a die-hard Tea Party conservative who wore out his welcome, in a landslide in the Republican primary in the “Big First” congressional district of Kansas. Marshall becomes the prohibitive favorite to win the Nov. 8 general election in a staunchly conservative district. Huelskamp is the fourth House incumbent to lose renomination this year.
Although most of the residents of the Big First live in cities, the headline issue in the race was the need for the district to regain a seat on the House Agriculture Committee. Major farm groups, such as the Kansas Livestock Association, the Kansas Farm Bureau and the National Association of Wheat Growers, endorsed Marshall as someone who would listen to constituents and pay attention to district needs. “Huelskamp has burned bridges with his colleagues, farmers and ranchers, and many others,” farm group leaders said in a statement the day before the primary.
Marshall won by nearly a 3-to-2 margin, 58,807 votes to 45,307 for the incumbent. He carried the three largest cities in the district, Manhattan, Salina and Garden City, and most of the rural counties. Of the 63 counties in the district, Huelskamp won only 15. To see unofficial vote totals from the Kansas Secretary of State and a map showing how candidates did in each county, click here.
“I’ll be so proud to go to Washington and represent Kansas and agriculture, to put the pieces together,” Marshall told a cheering crowd, according to public broadcaster KCUR-FM.
House Republican leaders removed Huelskamp from the Agriculture Committee in 2012 as an obstructionist and troublemaker. He voted against the 2014 farm law, which expanded the federally subsidized crop insurance system, because he wanted larger cuts in food stamps. By contrast, Marshall said he would have a much better chance to win an Agriculture seat as a newcomer than Huelskamp would.
Huelskamp aides ejected reporters from the representative’s election-night party in Hutchinson soon after vote-counting began and Marshall rocketed into the lead.
The “Big First” gets its name because of its size; covering two-thirds of Kansas and being larger in land area than the state of Illinois. It also is one of the foremost agricultural districts in the country. In the 2012 Census of Agriculture, the Big First was credited with $14.3 billion in crop and livestock production, ranking third in the nation.
All the same, 59 percent of the district population live in town. One of five residents lives in either Manhattan, home of Kansas State University, Salina or Hutchinson.
The race was cast as Tea Party vs. the establishment although both candidates are strong conservatives – pro-guns and anti-abortion – and both had backing from anti-spending political action committees. But, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce backed Marshall and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz endorsed Huelskamp. KCUR-FM said, “While many in Washington D.C. said the race illustrated the GOP’s current civil war, people in Kansas said Huelskamp’s biggest sin was the failure to support the district’s bread and butter: Agriculture.”
“It certainly does suggest, at least in the First District of Kansas, that agriculture has a strong voice,” said a Washington lobbyist when asked about the larger implications of the election. Managing editor Kyle Kondik of the political website Sabato’s Crystal Ball, said the race probably has limited national import. It’s the end of the primary season and only four incumbents have lost races. “Also, the particulars here are somewhat distinctive: In many ways, this is an establishment challenge to a conservative incumbent, which is the opposite of the usual pattern,” said Kondik ahead of the vote.