Democrats elect civil rights lawyer as nominee for US House

By ROXANA HEGEMAN
Feb. 11, 2017 7:27 PM EST

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Democrats hoping to turn voter discontent into an upset picked civil rights attorney Jim Thompson to run for the U.S. House seat that Mike Pompeo vacated to become CIA director under President Donald Trump.

Thompson, a 46-year-old political newcomer and Army veteran, will run against Republican state Treasurer Ron Estes in the April 11 special election.

It will be the nation's first special congressional election since Trump's win, and Democrats view it as their best chance to flip the seat representing the heavily Republican 4th District in southern Kansas.

After winning the Democratic nomination, Thompson, told delegates that the nation was watching.

"This is going to be a referendum on Trump's policies," the Wichita attorney said.

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