1. A tight campaign is when two candidates for political office are very close in polls, meaning that it's unclear who will win. 2. By "home" they mean Kansas. Kansas does not usually have very tight campaign races because the winner is almost always decided very early. So, they would have to leave Kansas to see a tight campaign race. 3. The "novelty" is the same idea from #2: since there are hardly ever close races in Kansas politics, a close race would be something new and exciting, or novel. 4. SRO means "standing room only" which is another way of saying that every seat was filled at the event. Some places sell tickets for standing room, which means they stand wherever they can find space. Usually those tickets are cheaper. Hope this helps!