Ron Estes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromKansas's4th district | |
| Assumed office April 25, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Mike Pompeo |
| 39thKansas State Treasurer | |
| In office January 10, 2011 – April 25, 2017 | |
| Governor | Sam Brownback |
| Preceded by | Dennis McKinney |
| Succeeded by | Jake LaTurner |
| Treasurer ofSedgwick County | |
| In office 2004–2010 | |
| Preceded by | Jan Kennedy[1] |
| Succeeded by | Linda Kizzire[2] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Ronald Gene Estes (1956-07-19)July 19, 1956 (age 68) Topeka,Kansas, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Susan Estes |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Tennessee Technological University (BS,MBA) |
| Website | House website |
Ronald Gene Estes (/ˈɛstɪs/ESS-tiss; born July 19, 1956) is an American politician who has been theU.S. representative forKansas's 4th congressional district since April 2017. A member of theRepublican Party, he served asKansas State Treasurer from 2011 to 2017.
A fifth-generation Kansan, Estes studied engineering and business atTennessee Tech. He began his career as a consultant and executive in various manufacturing and service industries. Estes was elected treasurer ofSedgwick County in 2004 and reelected in 2008. He was electedKansas State Treasurer in 2010 and reelected in 2014. After U.S. RepresentativeMike Pompeo resigned to becomeDirector of the Central Intelligence Agency, Estes wonthe special election for the seat and was sworn in on April 25, 2017. He is the dean of Kansas's House delegation.
Estes was born inTopeka, Kansas, and is a fifth-generation Kansan.[3] He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering and aMaster of Business Administration fromTennessee Tech, where he was selected for membership inOmicron Delta Kappa - The National Leadership Honor Society.[4]
Estes worked in consulting and management roles in the aerospace, oil and gas, automotive, and several other manufacturing and service industries, working for several companies, includingAndersen Consulting,Procter & Gamble,Koch Industries, andBombardier Learjet.[5]
Estes was elected treasurer ofSedgwick County, Kansas, home toWichita, in 2004,[4] and reelected in 2008.[5] During his political career, he also served as treasurer for the Kansas County Treasurer's Association, and in several posts in the Republican Party, including vice chair of theKansas Republican Party.[4]
Estes ran forKansas State Treasurer in 2010 against incumbentDemocratDennis McKinney.[4] Estes was the first statewide elected official from Wichita in two decades.[citation needed] He was reelected in 2014, defeating Carmen Alldritt.[6]
As state treasurer, Estes managed more than $24 billion in public money and he came in under budget by over $600,000.[7] He made it a priority to tell Kansans about unclaimed money, such as funds from forgotten bank accounts.[5] In 2016, Estes said his office had returned $100 million in unclaimed property since 2010.[5]
In the2016 U.S. presidential election, Estes endorsedMarco Rubio for the Republican nomination in February, before Kansas's presidential caucuses.[5] Estes served in theElectoral College and cast his electoral vote forDonald Trump.[8][5]
Mike Pompeo, who representedKansas's 4th congressional district in theUnited States House of Representatives, resigned on January 23, 2017, to becomeDirector of the Central Intelligence Agency.[9] On February 9, Estes won the Republican nomination to run in thespecial election to determine Pompeo's successor.[10] Estes won with 66 of 126 votes in a special nominating convention held atFriends University.[10]
The Democratic nominee in the special election wasJames Thompson, a Wichita lawyer and veteran. Estes was endorsed by many Republicans, including PresidentDonald Trump,[11] Vice PresidentMike Pence,[11] SenatorTed Cruz,[12] House SpeakerPaul Ryan,[12] and GovernorSam Brownback. He was also endorsed by the editorial board ofThe Wichita Eagle.[7]
TheNational Republican Congressional Committee contributed $92,000, in part for "inflammatory and false" advertisements supporting Estes, which characterized Thompson as an advocate of taxpayer-funded, late-term abortions, and as an advocate for gender-selection abortion.[13] According to April 10, 2017, fundraising reports, Estes had raised $459,000 to Thompson's $292,000.[13][14][15][16]
Estes won the special election on April 11, 2017, 52.2% to 46%.[17]
In the 2018 election, Estes was challenged in the primary by a candidate with a similar name, Ron M. Estes.[18] This led to a conundrum as to how the candidates should be distinguished on the ballot, with Kansas Secretary of StateKris Kobach deciding that Ron G. Estes could include the prefix "Rep." on the ballot according to Kansas law, although Ron M. Estes complained that this was unfair.[18] The incumbent won with 81.4% of the vote.[19] In the general election, Estes defeated James Thompson in a rematch with 59.4% of the vote.[20]
Estes was sworn into office on April 25, 2017.
In December 2017, Estes voted for theTax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.[21] In an op-ed for theWichita Eagle, he said he was "confident it will make a real difference for families and businesses in Kansas", that it would provide economic and job growth, and that workers would see larger paychecks. Estes says the tax-filing process had been simplified, even though the process remains the same.[22]
In July 2017, Estes received national attention for interrupting RepresentativeKathleen Rice mid-sentence while she asked a question at a Homeland Security subcommittee hearing. Rice tweeted "Day in the life. Worth noting there are men from both parties who don't act like this" and included a video of the exchange. Estes explained that he was simply trying to follow committee rules after Rice's time was up.[23]
Estes calls himself "proudly pro-life" and supports defundingPlanned Parenthood.[5][27] In the only election debate he attended, where he joined DemocratJames Thompson and the campaign manager for Libertarian candidate Chris Rockhold, he repeated the claim that Planned Parenthood had been profiting by selling parts of aborted fetuses.[28]
Estes supports a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution and reducing corporate and some personal income tax rates.[7]
During the 2017 special election campaign, Estes said that he believes that theAmerican Health Care Act of 2017 did not go far enough to uproot and eliminate theAffordable Care Act, seeking complete repeal.[5][7]
In December 2020, Estes was one of 126 Republican members of theHouse of Representatives to sign anamicus brief in support ofTexas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at theUnited States Supreme Court contesting the results of the2020 presidential election, in whichJoe Biden defeated[29] incumbentDonald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lackedstanding underArticle III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.[30][31][32]
Estes voted to provide Israel with support following2023 Hamas attack on Israel.[33][34]
Ron and his wife, Susan, have three children.[3] His family operates a farm inOsage County, Kansas.[citation needed]Susan Estes is a member of theKansas House of Representatives.[35]
| Kansas Treasurer election, 2010[36] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Ron Estes | 481,704 | 58.5 |
| Democratic | Dennis McKinney (inc.) | 341,324 | 41.4 |
| Kansas Treasurer election, 2014[37] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Republican | Ron Estes (inc.) | 570,110 | 67.5 |
| Democratic | Carmen Alldritt | 274,257 | 32.4 |
| Republican Convention[38] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate | First Ballot | Pct. | Second Ballot | Pct. |
| Ron Estes | 58 | 46% | 66 | 52% |
| Alan Cobb | 28 | 22% | 43 | 34% |
| Todd Tiahrt | 20 | 16% | 17 | 14% |
| Joseph Ashby | 10 | 8% | Eliminated | |
| George Bruce | 10 | 8% | Eliminated | |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ron Estes | 64,044 | 52.2% | |
| Democratic | James Thompson | 56,435 | 46.1% | |
| Libertarian | Chris Rockhold | 2,115 | 1.7% | |
| Total votes | 122,594 | 100.0% | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ron Estes (incumbent) | 57,522 | 81.4 | |
| Republican | Ron M. Estes | 13,159 | 18.6 | |
| Total votes | 70,681 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ron Estes (incumbent) | 144,248 | 59.4 | |
| Democratic | James Thompson | 98,445 | 40.6 | |
| Total votes | 242,693 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ron Estes (incumbent) | 87,877 | 100.0 | |
| Total votes | 87,877 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ron Estes (incumbent) | 203,432 | 63.7 | |
| Democratic | Laura Lombard | 116,166 | 36.3 | |
| Total votes | 319,598 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ron Estes (incumbent) | 102,915 | 100.0 | |
| Total votes | 102,915 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ron Estes (incumbent) | 144,889 | 63.3 | |
| Democratic | Bob Hernandez | 83,851 | 36.7 | |
| Total votes | 228,740 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ron Estes (incumbent) | 40,100 | 100.0 | |
| Total votes | 40,100 | 100.0 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Ron Estes (incumbent) | 198,465 | 65.0 | |
| Democratic | Esau Freeman | 106,632 | 35.0 | |
| Total votes | 305,097 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
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| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Republican nominee forKansas State Treasurer 2010, 2014 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Treasurer of Kansas 2011–2017 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by | Member of the U.S. House of Representatives fromKansas's 4th congressional district 2017–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 183rd | Succeeded by |
