Moore fends off another challenge

? U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore did it again.

The three-term incumbent won re-election to his 3rd District seat Tuesday, defeating Republican Kris Kobach.

Moore kept the predominantly Republican district, which includes east Lawrence, in Democratic hands. He is the only Democrat in the Kansas congressional delegation.

“I think people in this district want somebody who’s going to look at issues on an issue-by-issue basis and not vote a straight party line,” Moore said. “When the president is right, I will vote with the president. When the president is wrong, I will respectfully say, ‘Mr. President, there is a better way.'”

Moore, 58, declared victory shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday, flashing the thumbs-up sign to about 400 cheering supporters at the Ritz Charles convention center in Overland Park.

“I hope we can work together and that Republicans and Democrats can come together and remember what we felt on Sept. 11 three years ago,” Moore said. “At that time, we weren’t Republicans or Democrats; we were all Americans.”

He then pulled out his guitar and led the crowd singing Woody Guthrie’s anthem, “This Land is Your Land.” He was joined by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.

Moore was leading Kobach, a law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, by about 9 percent, according to unofficial results. It was a wider margin than in any of Moore’s previous races against Republican opponents.

The heavily Republican district includes Johnson and Wyandotte counties, and the eastern two-thirds of Douglas County. Johnson County accounts for nearly three-fourths of the district’s registered voters. Wyandotte and Douglas counties make up the remaining 19 percent and 7 percent, respectively.

6News video: Dennis Moore wins in a ‘landslide’ 6News video: Dennis Moore victory speech

U.S. House 3rd District
Joe Bellis 3,064 1 %
Kris Kobach 141,302 44 %
¢ Dennis Moore 177,525 54 %
Richard Wells 2,813 1 %
612 of 612 precincts reporting

“No other Democrat in Congress has a district that’s as Republican as the 3rd District,” said Burdett Loomis, a Kansas University political science professor who’s studied Moore’s earlier defeats of then-incumbent Vince Snowbarger (1998), Phill Kline (2000), and Adam Taff (2002). Moore beat each of them by about 3 percent margins.

Each time, Moore won by staying within a few percentage points of his opponents in Johnson County while picking up enough votes in Douglas and Wyandotte counties to win.

“The message here, I think, is you can’t cater to the right and beat a guy who’s clearly a moderate Democrat,” Loomis said. “That formula doesn’t work.”

Kobach conceded defeat about 10:30 p.m.

“At the end of the day and in the final analysis, we could not overcome the power of incumbency, the extra million dollars” that Moore raised, said Todd Abrajano, a Kobach spokesman. “And a negative ad campaign we could not compete with.”

In his campaign, Kobach made few overtures to moderate Republicans, betting he could find enough conservatives among the district’s unaffiliated voters to win.

Kobach, who was U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft’s counsel on immigration issues from September 2001 to July 2003, built much of his campaign on calls for a crackdown on illegal immigration. He vowed to fight abortion, gay marriage, stem-cell research and gun control.

Overview Unofficial election results Douglas County precinct map Election Day 2004 feedbacktext Kids Voting ResultsCounty Democrat unseats D.A. of 8 years Former mayor defeats Buhler in Senate race Embattled district judge stays on bench McElhaney survives short-lived deficit Record number of voters cast their ballots in county Douglas County kids choose Kerry Politicians, supporters share ‘crazy’ election-night revelry Voters approve Perry-Lecompton bond issue Township lacks candidatesState Moore fends off another challenge Ryun wins contentious 2nd District Congress seat Brownback easily defends his U.S. Senate seat Holland inches past GOP challenge Pine takes 3rd District Senate seat Wagnon wins State Board of Education race Seven incumbents lose; GOP pads majority in House Voters deny sales tax for K.C. arena Bush wins Kansas handily Kansans show they’re satisfied with Bush Counties see high voter turnout Election briefsNational Too close to call President ‘upbeat’ on election returns Kerry sentimental as race nears end Analysis: Emotions guided presidential voting Networks use care in reporting results New media throw caution to the wind Presidential race prompts late selloff State by state results: Midwest State by state results: West State by state results: Northeast State by state results: South California backs stem-cell research Voters in 11 states approve gay-marriage bans GOP wins key states in South World riveted by U.S. electionMultimediaphoto Photo Gallery: Election Day 2004 6News video: Dennis Moore wins in a ‘landslide’ 6News video: Dennis Moore victory speech 6News video: Bob Johnson wins 2nd District County Commission position 6News video: Paula Gilchrist presumed Douglas County Treasurer 6News video: Ken McGovern wins sheriff’s office 6News video: Jere McElhaney on the 3rd District Commissioner seat 6News video: Penrod optimistic about Douglas County Clerk position 6News video: Ermeling hopeful in 3rd District Commissioner race 6News video: Francisco likely to win 2nd Districtphoto Barbara Ballard talks about younger voters and their importance in this election.photo Barbara Ballard talks about being in Lawrence and Kansas on election night.photo Paul Davis talks about the importance of this election to the Kansas Democrats.photo Paul Davis chooses his most important race in Kansas.photo Paul Davis talks about the feeling among other Democrats in Kansas.photo Gov. Kathleen Sebelius addresses the crowd at Abe ‘N Jakes Landing.