With the help of a strong showing in Douglas County, 3rd District Congressman Dennis Moore easily won a fifth term Tuesday.

Moore, a Democrat, won by his largest margin yet, receiving 64 percent of the vote compared to Republican challenger Chuck Ahner’s 35 percent.

“I think people in this district know me and feel comfortable with me,” Moore said. “I tell people I look at issues on an issue-by-issue basis. Eighty percent of Congress should not be about Republicans and Democrats. It should be what we can do to take care of the country.”

Before Tuesday night, Moore’s best showing against Republican challengers in the district was 54 percent in 2004 against Kris Kobach.

As in past years, Moore, from Lenexa, had strong support in Douglas County. He received 73 percent of the vote in the county, compared to Ahner’s 22 percent.

“It means a lot to me to have the wonderful support I’ve had in Douglas County,” Moore said. “I try to come over often to Douglas County to meet people in and around Lawrence. There are good people over there.”

Moore ran largely on his previous record, saying he could work well with people on both sides of the aisle. His recent accomplishments included sponsoring a bill that increased the military death benefit from $12,420 to $100,000.

The candidates also took varied stances on the Iraq War, with Moore saying the United States should develop a time frame for removing troops and Ahner saying the United States needs a larger military and couldn’t yet pull out of Iraq.

Ahner, an Overland Park loan executive, didn’t receive support from the National Republican Congressional Committee but was endorsed by former Sen. Bob Dole and Sen. John McCain.

Ahner, who ran unsuccessfully for Blue Valley school board in 2005, attempted to paint himself as a Washington outsider who advocated moving to a consumption-based tax system, eliminating the federal income tax, cutting pork-barrel spending and eliminating congressional budget earmarks.

Moore raised nearly $1.69 million for the race, compared with $426,105 for Ahner, according to most recent spending reports.

While the other Congressional race involving Lawrence – the 2nd District race between Jim Ryun and Nancy Boyda – was close to the end and drew national media attention, the 3rd District race was a lower profile race.

Alice Lieberman, a Lawrence Democrat who helped campaign for Moore, said she credited the congressman’s success in Lawrence to “keeping the communication up with constituents.”

“The Republicans keep running candidates who are unacceptable – I don’t mean that in a bad way, they just don’t have the support of the national apparatus, and they’re not well-known,” Lieberman said. “He’s won four times. People have kind of decided he’s going to be there, and he’s going to be hard to beat.”

Also on the ticket was Reform Party candidate Robert Conroy of Shawnee, who did not actively campaign. He received 2 percent of the vote.