Ronald Gene Estes (born July 19, 1956) is an American politician and member of the Republican Party who has served as the U.S. Representative for Kansas's 4th congressional district since April 25, 2017. He was previously the 39th Kansas State Treasurer, serving from 2011 to 2017.
Video Ron Estes
Early life, education, and career
Estes was born in Topeka, Kansas, and is a fifth-generation Kansan. He earned a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering and a master's degree in Business Administration from Tennessee Technological University.
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 including Procter & Gamble, Koch Industries, and Bombardier Learjet.
He was elected as treasurer of Sedgwick County, Kansas, home to Wichita, in 2004, and subsequently reelected in 2008. During his political career, he also served as the Treasurer for the Kansas County Treasurer's Association, and in several posts in the Republican Party including Vice Chair of the Kansas Republican Party.
Maps Ron Estes
Kansas State Treasurer
Estes ran for Kansas State Treasurer in the 2010 election, against incumbent Democrat Dennis McKinney. Estes was the first statewide elected official from Wichita, Kansas in two decades. He was reelected in 2014, defeating Carmen Alldritt.
As state treasurer, Mr. Estes managed more than $24 billion in public money and he came in under budget by over $600,000. He made a priority telling Kansans about unclaimed money, such as funds from forgotten bank accounts. In 2016, Estes said his office had returned $100 million in unclaimed property since 2010.
During the 2016 U.S. presidential election, in February 2016, prior to the Kansas presidential caucuses, Estes endorsed Florida Senator Marco Rubio for the Republican nomination. Estes served in the Electoral College and cast his electoral vote for Donald Trump.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2017
Mike Pompeo, who represented Kansas's 4th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives, resigned on January 23, 2017, to become Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. On February 9, Estes won the Republican nomination to run in the special election to determine Pompeo's successor. Estes won with 66 of 126 votes in a special nominating convention held at Friends University.
Estes' Democratic opponent in the special election was James Thompson, a Wichita lawyer and veteran. Estes' special election candidacy was endorsed by many Republicans, including President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Senator Ted Cruz, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and Governor Sam Brownback. He was endorsed by the editorial board of the local newspaper, The Wichita Eagle.
The National Republican Congressional Committee contributed $92,000, in part for "inflammatory and false" advertisements supporting Estes, which characterized his opponent as an advocate of taxpayer-funded, late-term abortions, and also as an advocate for gender selection abortion. According to April 10, 2017 fundraising reports, Estes had raised $459,000 to Thompson's $292,000.
Estes won the special election on April 11, 2017 by a margin of 52.2% to 46%.
Tenure
Rep. Estes was sworn into office on April 25, 2017.
In December 2017, Estes voted in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. In an op-ed for the Wichita Eagle, Estes said he is "confident it will make a real difference for families and businesses in Kansas." He says it will provide economic and job growth, and that workers will see larger paychecks. He says that local companies, including Cessna and Spirit AeroSystems, will be able to "compete on a level playing field with international rivals," as a result of the bill, and that more jobs will return to Kansas from overseas. He says the tax-filing process has been simplified, even though the process remains the same.
Committee assignments
- Committee on Education and the Workforce
- Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions
- Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development
- Committee on Homeland Security
- Subcommittee on Oversight and Management Efficiency
- Subcommittee on Transportation and Protective Security
- Republican Study Committee
Political positions
Domestic issues
Health care
Estes during the 2017 special election campaign stated that he believes that the American Health Care Act of 2017 did not go far enough to complete uproot and eliminate Obamacare, seeking a repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
Economic issues
He supports a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution and a reduction in corporate and some personal income taxes.
Social issues
Abortion
Estes defines himself as "proudly pro-life" and he supports defunding Planned Parenthood. In the only election debate he attended, where he joined Democrat James Thompson, and the campaign manager for Libertarian candidate Chris Rockhold, he repeated the discredited claim that Planned Parenthood had been profiting by selling parts of aborted fetuses.
Personal life
Ron and his wife, Susan, have three children. His family operates a farm in Osage County, Kansas.
Electoral history
Kansas State Treasurer
2017 Congressional election
Republican caucus results
General election
References
External links
- Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- Profile at Project Vote Smart
- Financial information (federal office) at the Federal Election Commission
- Legislation sponsored at the Library of Congress
- Congressman Ron Estes - official U.S. House website
- Ron Estes - campaign website
- Appearances on C-SPAN
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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