The field of candidates looking to take on Rep. Kevin Yoder this fall is getting bigger.
Shawnee resident Sharice Davids announced today that she was entering the field for the Democratic primary for Yoder’s Third Congressional District seat, bringing the total number of candidates to six.
“Kevin Yoder no longer represents the people of Kansas,” Davids said in her campaign announcement. “He is now a rubber stamp for the Trump administration and the big-money donors who have fueled his campaigns. Voters now have a clear choice in this race.”
Davids is the daughter of a single mother who served two decades in the U.S. Army. She moved a few times as a kid based on where her mother was stationed, landing in eastern Kansas for her high school years. After graduating from Leavenworth High, she attended college at Johnson County Community College and UMKC. After graduating from UMKC, she went on to earn a law degree from Cornell.
In 2016, Davids participating in the White House Fellowship Program, where she worked with senior government officials during the tumultuous period of transition between the Obama and Trump administrations. Her campaign says that experience gave her firsthand insight into the need for “competent, thoughtful people to step up, take action, and get involved in government.”
At the conclusion of her fellowship, she returned to Kansas and has since been actively involved in political movements to promote equality.
If successful, Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk nation, would be the first native American woman and the first openly gay person elected to Congress from Kansas. Prior to her White House Fellowship, she spent three years working on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota focused on community development issues. She said her focus in the race will be on “opportunity, equity and action.”
“Voters want a representative who speaks and acts for their values, interests, and communities,” Davids said. “I have a proven track record of service and will add a new, distinct voice and viewpoint to the nation’s discussions.”
Democrats now seeking the Third District nomination are:
- Sharice Davids
- Chris Haulmark
- Mike McCamon (who just entered this week)
- Tom Niermann
- Jay Sidie
- Brent Welder
