Tiahrt twice sought to regain the 4th District House seat, representing a district which encompasses eleven counties in the south central region of the state, including the City of Wichita. In 2014, he ran against incumbent Mike Pompeo in the Republican primary but was defeated. Then, in 2017, after Pompeo vacated the seat to become President Donald Trump's CIA Director, Tiahrt sought the Republican nomination for the special election to fill it, but came in third, losing to Kansas state treasurer Ron Estes.