In a major victory, out Rep. Sharice Davids (D-KS) has won reelection and will maintain her seat in Congress representing Kansas District 3.
Davids won despite Republican redistricting efforts that targeted her district to make it harder for her to win (she’s currently the state’s only Democratic representation in Congress). The New York Times called it “one of the most competitive house races in the country,” in which Davids defeated Republican Amanda Adkins, who she also beat in 2020.
Davids made history in 2018 as the first out LGBTQ person elected to Congress from Kansas, and as one of the first Native American women elected to Congress. She was also reelected in 2020.
Davids has made health care and equality for oppressed people central issues in Congress. And she has centered her message around hope for the future in her campaigns.
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She told LGBTQ Nation in 2020: “The fact that we have so many people who see a future for themselves and for their children and grandchildren in this country, and the number of people who are engaged in trying to shape that future, that is literally the manifestation of hope.”
In the wake of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, Davids also continued to speak out for reproductive rights leading up to the shocking defeat of a state ballot measure to ban abortion. The referendum to end the state constitutional right to an abortion was shot down with a majority of voters in Kansas opposing it.
The night before the vote, Davids told the crowd at a “vote no” watch party that the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade motivated people to vote for reproductive freedom.
“I think the Dobbs decision definitely felt like a gut punch to a lot of folks in our community and I know it did for me for sure,” she said. “But once we caught our breath, we stood up straight, we got to work.”
