U.S. House Race of the Day - Kansas 3rd District

The fast growing Kansas City suburbs of eastern Kansas will be the site of one of the most-watched open seat U.S. House races of the year.  The Republican-leaning seat has been held by Democrat Dennis Moore, much to the chagrin of Republican strategists, since Moore unseated conservative Republican Rep. Vince Snowbarger in 1998.   Moore complied a fairly liberal voting record in his 12-year career, but he remained popular in the 3rd which is the most heavily Democratic district in Kansas.  Moore was perennially targeted by state and national Republicans, but he managed to rally his base of Democratic strongholds in Kansas City, Kansas and Lawrence to overcome the Republican leanings of populous Johnson County.

In November 2009, Moore announced that he would not seek re-election to Congress.  The GOP immediately vaulted the 3rd district to the top of the party's flip list for the 2010 elections.  The Democrats were able to convince Moore's wife, Stephene, to run for the seat.  Moore entered the race with high name recognition in the district due to her husband's 12 years of service.  The Republican primary drew no less than 9 candidates.  The race, however, quickly developed into a two person showdown between former State Representative Patricia Lightner, who ran as a "mainstream conservative" and had the backing of the influential Kansans For Life and Overland Park State Representative Kevin Yoder, who also ran on a conservative platform and was favored by national Republicans.  In the August 3 primary, Yoder defeated Lightner by a margin of around 5,000 votes 45%-37%.  Stephene Moore cruised to victory in the Democratic primary over an unknown opponent.

The Yoder-Moore general election has drawn the interest of both national parties.  A recent redstate.com post stated that national Democrats are planning to pour at least $900,000 into this district in hopes of keeping it in the Moore family (and more importantly to them in the Democratic column).  Yoder had a nearly 2-to-1 cash on hand advantage at the last reporting period, so Moore will probably need help from the DCCC to be financially competitive.  Local Republicans, including Lightner, have coalesced behind Yoder's candidacy.  With the election 70 days away, Republicans are counting on taking control of this district that has long eluded them.  It is difficult to imagine the GOP reclaiming the House without winning this open seat.