Democratic 4th Congressional District nominee James Thompson is battling back against a new GOP website containing court documents showing he got into a fight with a bar customer and was accused of hitting a woman.
Early Thursday, Thompson’s campaign attacked the website – jamesthompsonforkansas.com – and accused the Republicans of running “a deceptive smear site” with an intentionally-falsified police report accusing him of a crime.
“Kansas Republicans are lying about Kansas veteran James Thompson,” the campaign said in a statement released early Thursday.
“The Kansas Republican Party should apologize for their lies and smears against James Thompson’s character as an honorably-discharged U.S. Army veteran,” the campaign said in a statement.
Thompson is set for a rematch against Republican incumbent Ron Estes in the 4th Congressional District. Thompson mounted a spirited campaign against Estes in a special election last year and came up short.
The GOP-financed website includes an April 2000 criminal complaint against Thompson accusing him of simple battery for allegedly striking a woman in the face with his open hand.
The website doesn’t tell how the case was handled, but a court official in the records division at Wichita Municipal Court told the Sunflower State Journal that the case was dismissed at the end of April 2000.
Thompson said he was unaware of the charge until he applied to take the Kansas Bar Exam after law school, when he found out that another person had falsely given Thompson’s name to the police instead of their own. “The allegations against Thompson were proven false and the 2000 case was dismissed,” the campaign said.
The website also includes documents from another municipal court case where he was found guilty of battery for a fight in a Wichita bar where he tended drinks and worked as a bouncer. The incident occurred in June 2001.
However, the Wichita Eagle reported Thursday that Thompson appealed the case to Sedgwick County District Court, where the battery charge was dropped and he pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct. Thompson paid a $225 fine, including $125 in court costs, according to the Eagle report.
After leaving the Army, Thompson worked his way through college, including taking a job as a bartender and bouncer at a club in Wichita’s Old Town district.
“As any service industry worker can tell you,” Thompson campaign said in the statement, “getting into legal issues after dealing with intoxicated patrons is extremely common and often overturned by the courts on appeal, which happened in the 2001 case.”
Jim Joice, executive director of the Kansas Republican Party, didn’t answer any direct questions by email about the website’s allegations, how much it cost to build and whether it reflected that Thompson is perceived as a threat.
“Representing Kansans in Congress is a serious job and we believe that Kansas voters deserve to know the truth about the candidates who seek to represent them,” Joice said in an email.
The Estes campaign issued this response on Thursday afternoon, saying it had seen the “disturbing” news.
“We were surprised and concerned to learn that these actions took place when James was an adult,” said Estes communications director Austin Gilpin.
“It’s highly unfortunate that James Thompson’s anger and temper manifests itself into violence, and this calls into question whether he has the temperament to serve others as an elected official.”
Thompson’s campaign said the website is an indicator that Estes is running scared in the race. Thompson tied the congressman to former Gov. Sam Brownback.
“Brownbacker Ron Estes is panicking because the Thompson campaign recently released a poll of likely voters showing Thompson within four points, and with Estes deeply unfavorable in the district after only a year in office.
“Estes should apologize for his continued lies, avoidance of public debate and unprofessionalism.”
