U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids is seeking her fifth term representing Johnson County in Congress and faces two challengers on the Nov. 3 ballot, Republican Eric Jenkins and Libertarian Steve Hohe.

Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District comprises all of Johnson County, half of Wyandotte County to the north, and all of Franklin, Miami and Anderson counties to the south.

The profiles below were compiled using information from the candidates’ websites, their social media accounts, their responses to the Johnson County Post’s five-item candidate questionnaire and Vote JoCo questionnaires distributed by local chambers of commerce.

Rep. Sharice Davids (Democratic)

• Political experience: Davids is the incumbent, having represented Kansas’ Third Congressional District since 2018, when she defeated Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder. She has won reelection three times, most recently defeating Republican Prasanth Reddy in 2024, and is now seeking a fifth term. Before Congress, she served as a White House Fellow, worked in community and economic development on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota and practiced law.
• Personal life: A member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, Davids is the first LGBTQ Native American elected to Congress. Raised in the Leavenworth area by a single mother who served in the Army, she worked multiple jobs to put herself through Johnson County Community College before earning a degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a law degree from Cornell. She is also a former professional mixed martial arts fighter.
• Platform: Davids says her priorities are lowering everyday costs, expanding access to affordable health care and rebuilding infrastructure. She voted for the bipartisan ROAD to Housing Act and says Congress should next expand small-dollar mortgages, help local builders finance starter homes and expand down-payment assistance for teachers, nurses and first responders. She voted to end the congressionally unauthorized war in Iran, saying the U.S. goal should be preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon through “firm, targeted diplomacy and strategic sanctions.” She supports comprehensive immigration reform with enforcement focused on violent offenders and opposes masked federal agents “operating without accountability.” She opposes last year’s Medicaid and SNAP cuts and says she has backed bipartisan legislation to reverse them. As an example of breaking with her party, she cites pushing for a ban on congressional stock trading that Democratic leadership refused to bring to the floor.

Steve Hohe (Libertarian)

• Political experience: Hohe has not held elected office but is a repeat candidate, having run as the Libertarian nominee for this Congressional seat in 2016, 2020 and 2022. He also ran for the Kansas Legislature in 2024. This is his fourth bid for Congress.
• Personal life: A Shawnee resident and military veteran, Hohe describes himself as semi-retired, working part-time in nursery sales and as a fire extinguisher inspector and technician. He has volunteered with the Boy Scouts for more than 16 years and has been a member of Crossroads Christian Church in Shawnee for more than 20 years, according to his questionnaire.
• Platform: Hohe’s signature proposals remain abolishing the federal income tax in favor of a “three-tier” tariff on imports and reducing the national debt, which he blames for doubling mortgage rates and driving the housing affordability crisis. He calls the ROAD to Housing Act “a lion with no teeth” and says Congress should shrink government and pay down debt to lower interest rates. On Iran, he says Congress failed to assess the conflict and should have declared there was no clear path forward and ordered a stand-down. He opposes placing limits on ICE, arguing the agency targets suspects with felony records. He says Congress should reexamine SNAP rule changes affecting teenagers and families of children with disabilities but wants government out of the health care market entirely. He says in his Post questionnaire that he runs “on my Merit and Not my Party.”

Eric Jenkins (Republican)

• Political experience: Jenkins served eight years on the Shawnee City Council, from 2015 to 2023, including two years as council president. Before that, he spent roughly 20 years on the Shawnee Planning Commission. On the city council, he says he was a consistent voice for fiscal restraint who regularly opposed spending increases.
• Personal life: Born at Fort Leavenworth, Jenkins is a retired U.S. Army colonel with 34 years of active and reserve service, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and command of a Special Forces A-Team and a military police battalion, according to his campaign website. He concurrently spent more than 30 years as a FEMA Region VII program manager. A graduate of the Army War College, he holds a bachelor’s degree from Missouri State and a master’s from UNC Charlotte. He and his wife have five children and are members of St. Joseph Church in Shawnee.
• Platform: Jenkins did not respond to the Post’s questionnaire for the general election. Previously, Jenkins listed his top issues as national security through “peace through strength,” supporting law enforcement and first responders and minimizing taxes while addressing the national debt. He supports the Trump tax cuts and wants new tax incentives to help startups survive their first five years. He describes free trade as “a two-way street,” opposing arrangements in which the U.S. pays tariffs while trading partners enjoy open access to American markets. On immigration, he backs strong borders and visa reforms limited to genuine workforce shortages, and his campaign site calls for completing the border wall, ending “catch-and-release” and defunding cities that obstruct federal immigration enforcement. He favors “maximum development” of all energy sources and opposes “socialized medicine.”