Republican visiting a state -- this one? (8)

I believe the answer is:

arkansas

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'this one?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I don't understand how they can define each other.

'republican visiting a state' is the wordplay.
'republican' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'visiting' is an insertion indicator.
'state' becomes 'kansas' (Kansas is an example).
'a'+'kansas'='akansas'
'r' inserted into 'akansas' is 'ARKANSAS'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for arkansas that I've seen before include "used to be a Land of Opportunity" , "River joining Mississippi" , "American state, capital Little Rock" , "State of S. central US" , "American river and state" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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