leaders and criticism that he was too cantankerous to be effective.
Great Bend obstetrician Roger Marshall won the tough contest against
Huelskamp in the 1st District, which spans western and much of central Kansas.
Marshall's supporters argued Huelskamp's combativeness harmed the
district. Huelskamp lost his seat on the House Agriculture Committee in 2012;
farm groups turned against him, and many Republican voters saw it as a crucial
issue in a farm state.
"Getting kicked off the Agriculture Committee is a crime that
can't be forgiven," Brian Scheideman, a 52-year-old driver's education
instructor, said after voting in his hometown of Wamego for Marshall. "I
don't mind the independent voice, but you've got to figure out how to work with
people."
Marshall, from the central Kansas community of Great Bend, received
endorsements from the Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Livestock Association,
National Association of Wheat Growers, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Huelskamp is a tea party favorite with a national profile from
clashing with GOP leaders over farm and budget legislation. He was a vocal
critic of former House Speaker John Boehner, and Huelskamp's supporters argued
that he gave his conservative, safely GOP district an independent voice.
.
On election night, Huelskamp's campaign ejected reporters from his
watch party at a hotel in Hutchinson, about 50 miles northwest of Wichita.
"I think he has a better record than what he is given credit
for," said Doris O'Neal, a 76-year-old Hutchinson homemaker who voted for
Huelskamp. "If you listen for reasons he voted as he has, I think you will
find he is doing the best he can for Kansas."
There is no Democratic candidate for the seat, though Clifton
farmer and educator Alan LaPolice is poised to run as an independent. LaPolice
ran for the GOP nomination in 2014, losing a closer-than-expected race against
Huelskamp as an unknown.
Huelskamp has rankled less conservative Republicans throughout a
20-year political career that includes a stint in the Kansas Senate before his
election to Congress in 2010. But this year, major agriculture groups and the
U.S. Chamber of Commerce endorsed Marshall.
Both candidates raised more than $700,000 for their campaigns — a
healthy sum for Kansas — but Marshall loaned his campaign more than $280,000.
Interest groups also spent more than $2.7 million on the race, with Marshall
benefiting significantly more.
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In other races, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran and U.S. Rep. Kevin Yoder in
the 3rd District in the Kansas City area cruised to easy GOP primary victories
over lesser known opponents. U.S. Reps. Lynn Jenkins in the 2nd District of
eastern Kansas and Mike Pompeo in the 4th District of south-central Kansas had
no opponents in their Republican primaries.
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