Rep. Sharice Davids coasted to reelection Tuesday night, securing her fifth term in Congress, according to the Associated Press.
Davids defeated Republican Eric Jenkins, a former Shawnee city councilmember, and Libertarian Steve Hohe.
“Tonight, Kansans sent a clear message that they want pragmatic leadership focused on fighting corruption, finding common ground, and lowering costs for hardworking families,” Davids said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Traveling across our district throughout this campaign reaffirmed that when we reject partisanship and extremism, we can deliver real, common-sense progress together,” she said.
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Davids was first elected to Congress in 2018, when she unseated four-term Republican Rep. Kevin Yoder by nearly 10 percentage points.
She was the first Native American woman and first openly LGBTQ person to represent Kansas in Washington, D.C. A one-time mixed martial arts fighter and White House fellow in the Obama administration, she has cast herself as a bipartisan centrist during her eight years in office.
She faced criticism from the left earlier this year for her stances on issues like immigration and Israel’s war in Gaza, and she had to overcome her first-ever primary challenge in August. She ended up defeating Sarah Preu of Fairway with more than 80% of the vote.
Jenkins, a Republican, served on the Shawnee City Council from 2015 until losing his reelection bid in 2023. He also previously ran unsuccessfully for U.S. House in 2016 and 2018.
An Army veteran with more than three decades of active duty and reserve service, Jenkins also worked for the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He pitched himself as a veteran and not a career politician.
But the race never seemed competitive.
Before last month’s final campaign finance reports, Davids held an eye-popping fundraising advantage over Eric Jenkins: roughly $3.7 million to $19,000.
Kansas’ Third Congressional District, centered around Johnson County, has been a recurring target for Republicans.
In 2022, lawmakers overrode Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto and approved a new map splitting up the district by moving northern Wyandotte County out and adding three rural counties, Anderson, Franklin and Miami.
Still, Davids won reelection that year over former health care executive Amanda Adkins by 12 percentage points. Davids has won each of her reelection bids by double-digit percentage points.
Last year, GOP lawmakers in Topeka pushed for a special session to draw new Congressional maps again following President Trump’s calls for mid-decade redistricting to favor Republicans, but legislative leaders could not gather enough lawmakers’ signatures to call the session.
This story was originally published by the Johnson County Post.
