Washington, D.C ? The White House on Thursday confirmed reports that President Bush will visit Kansas this weekend to stump for Republican Rep. Jim Ryun, who’s facing a tougher-than-expected race for re-election.

Bush will speak at a 6:20 p.m. rally for Ryun on Sunday at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka.

Ryun conceded for the first time this week that he’s in a close race rematch with Democrat Nancy Boyda. He’s seeking a sixth term in Congress after defeating Boyda by 15 percentage points in 2004.

Boyda has insisted for months that the race is much closer than national officials in either party think, but there has been no independent poll to confirm it.

In a surprise move last week, House Democrats spent more than $300,000 on television ads for Boyda. The race had not previously been on the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s list of targeted races.