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A Democrat running for a congressional seat in an ultra-conservative district is touting support from a Bernie Sanders-aligned group in the final days before a Kansas special election on Tuesday that appears to be unexpectedly close.

Theres been a swell of support for James Thompson, the Democrat running to fill the seat vacated by Tea Party congressman Mike Pompeo, who was tapped by President Donald Trump to lead the CIA. Republicans have stepped up spending in the race, signaling they could be worried about the result.

Along with the Kansas race, Democrats are looking to special elections in Georgia and Montana as early bellwethers of enthusiasm for candidates under President Donald Trump.

As Tuesday approached, Thompson running to represent the district that is home to Koch industries embraced support from Our Revolution, the progressive group that grew out of Bernie Sanders presidential campaign.

Early vote numbers arent necessarily an indicator of final turnout, but Tom Bonier, CEO of Democratic electoral data strategy firm TargetSmart Communications, noted that the closeness of the race could signal larger problems for Republicans.

Republicans are injecting well over $100,000 in spending in the final weeks of the race, a portion of which will be spent targeting Thompson.

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Kansas Democrat Proudly Wears Support Of Bernie Sanders Group In Unexpectedly Close Race - Huffington Post

Democrat and Chronicle Published 9:46 a.m. ET April 8, 2017 | Updated 7 hours ago

In this file photo, a Delta Air Lines jet sits at a gate at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta.(Photo: David Goldman, AP)

Delta Air Lines said canceled about 3,000 flights this week as it struggles in the aftermath of a storm that hit its big hub airport in Atlanta.

The thunder storm hit Wednesday, but canceled flights and long lines in Atlanta persist. Delta had canceled more than 400 flights by midday Friday, according to tracking service FlightAware.com.

Several local flights in and out of the Rochester airport are impacted by the cancellations.

Check your local flight status now

The airline said it is still getting planes and crews back in position for flights. Atlanta is Delta's busiest airport, and about 60 percent of its planes go through Atlanta on an average day.

Wednesday's storm was "unprecedented" and hard to forecast, said the airline's chief operating officer, Gil West. He added, "we understand the resulting recovery has not been ideal and we apologize for that."

On Twitter, Delta told people who were expecting to fly Friday to check their flight's status before going to the airport.

Delta was having trouble rebooking passengers because there weren't many empty seats on later flights. In March, the average Delta flight was about 85 percent full.

Most leading U.S. airlines have tried to limit empty seats by reducing the growth of flights. That has helped boost the airlines' profits but makes it harder to rebook passengers when flights are canceled.

Delta travelers whose flights are canceled can get a refund. The airline also offered to waive change fees for those who rebooked their plans.

The 3,000 cancellations, which included Delta and Delta Connection flights, topped the 2,300 that were canceled last August after a fire and power outage at a Delta data center in Atlanta. That airline later estimated that breakdown, which lasted four days, cost it $150 million.

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Some flights here impacted after Delta cancellations - Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

"After meeting with Judge Gorsuch, conducting a thorough review of his record, and closely following his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, I believe that he is a qualified jurist who will base his decisions on his understanding of the law and is well-respected among his peers," the Indiana Democrat said in a statement.

Donnelly is the third Senate Democrat to support Gorsuch, joining Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

CNN's whip list has 36 Democrats saying or suggesting they will filibuster Gorsuch's nomination. Another two Democrats say they'll oppose Gorsuch in the final confirmation vote, but it's unclear where they will stand on a potential filibuster.

In his statement, Donnelly added the Senate "should keep the current 60-vote threshold for Supreme Court nominees."

"It's highly, highly unlikely that he'll get 60," Schumer said.

"Neil Gorsuch will be confirmed this week," McConnell said. "How that happens really depends on our Democratic friends. How many of them are willing to oppose cloture on a partisan basis to kill a Supreme Court nominee."

If Schumer is able to halt the vote, McConnell could move to change the rules of the Senate by invoking what is referred to as the "nuclear option," which would allow the leadership to overcome a filibuster of Supreme Court nominations with a simple majority, or at least 51 votes. Republicans hold a slim, 52-48 majority in the chamber.

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Third Senate Democrat announces support for Gorsuch ...

In this March 11 photo, Georgia Democratic congressional candidate Jon Ossoff speaks to volunteers in his Cobb County campaign office.(Photo: Bill Barrow, AP)

Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff raised a staggering $8.3 million during the first quarter of the year in the first competitive House election since President Trump took office.

Ossoff, a 30-year-old political newcomer, is running for a Republican-held seat in suburban Atlanta. His bid in the April 18 special election has generated national attention as a symbol of Democratic oppositionto Trumps agenda.

Some 95% of Ossoffs donations have come from outside Georgia, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The NRCC, the House Republicans campaign arm, said Ossoffs reliance on out-of-state money shows hes a far-left Washington insider whose campaign is propped up by Nancy Pelosi, Bernie Sanders andthe like.

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End Citizens United raises $4 million, projects $35 million haul for midterms

Ossoff, a documentary filmmaker and former Capitol Hill staffer, ended March with $2.1 million in the bank.

His first-quarter haul far exceeds the amounts reported so far by his Republican rivals.

In all, 18 candidates are running for the seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, the top two finishers, regardless of party, will compete in a June 20 runoff.

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Democrat Jon Ossoff raises $8.3 million in closely watched Georgia race - USA TODAY

Kansas Democrat James Thompson

Now this is interesting:Despite the fact that Kansas's 4th Congressional District is dark red (Trump won it 60-33), and despite the fact that Republican Ron Estes's soft fundraising certainly hasn't suggested he's worried about Tuesday's special election, the NRCC has jumped in with about $90,000 in last-minute spending, on both digital and television ads.

In the TV spot, a narrator hits Democrat James Thompson on abortion, accusing him of a litany of sins: supporting "late-term abortions," "using your tax dollars to pay for abortions," and "abortion even if the parents don't like the gender of their baby." Politico's Elena Schneider explains that local Republicans "are fretting that Estes' margin is closer than expected," and one unnamed GOP consultant even says, "Kansas should not be in play, but Kansas is in play."

Amusingly, an NRCC spokesman tried to make it sound as though the committee was pleased about this turn of events, preposterously saying, "We're happy to help in this small way and show our support for Ron Estes." Uh no, no they're not happy at all. Frustratingly, though, if there's an opportunity here, local Democrats don't seem to be taking advantage of it. Thompson's campaign recently asked the Kansas Democratic Party to spend $20,000 on mailers to boost Thompson, but the party declined to get involved.

An upset here would be extraordinary beyond measure, but in this strange, unprecedented political environment, even the NRCC isn't willing to rule one out. A lot of Kansas Democrats, though, don't seem to feel the same way.

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DC Republicans run ad attacking Democrat just days before special election in ruby-red Kansas seat - Daily Kos