Tag: 3rd Congressional District

Davids: GOP’s gerrymander of 3rd District map a gambit to thwart will of voters

Lawsuit challenges shift of Wyandotte County voters to rural 1st District

by Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — The Republican-led Kansas Legislature voted to take a cleaver to the congressional district served by Democratic U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids and replace the top half of culturally diverse Wyandotte County with people more apt to favor a GOP candidate.

The move to shift extra Republicans to the district was anticipated and protested at town hall meeting across the state and, predictably, became grist for pending legal challenge claiming it was improper to fracture communities of interest in Wyandotte County. GOP lawmakers, over Gov. Laura Kelly’s veto, placed urban streets of Kansas City, Kansas, in the same congressional district as Dodge City, Salina, Hays and Garden City.

Rep. Davids, who has served the 3rd District since 2019, combined life as an attorney and mixed martial artist before getting into politics. She told the Kansas Reflector podcast that she had a longstanding dislike for gerrymandering.

“Before I even ever thought about running for Congress, I have cared about this kind of issue,” she said. “Whether it’s a state Legislature or a member of Congress … electeds shouldn’t be deciding who is going to get elected. The communities — the people, the voters — should be deciding who their elected officials are.”

The new map of Kansas’ four congressional districts is in limbo, but if affirmed by the courts a path for Davids’ re-election would be more rocky. The road to victory would be smoother for presumed Republican nominee Amanda Adkins, who lost the 2020 race against Davids and worked previously as a campaign manager for former U.S. Sen. and Gov. Sam Brownback.

Adkins’ campaign has emphasized national importance placed on the 3rd District race as Democrats try to hold their narrow majority in the House and Republicans attempt to return to power in the chamber. She said Cook Political Report rated a Davids-Adkins showdown a toss-up.

“Make no mistake,” Adkins said in a fundraising appeal, “our race will decide who has the majority in Congress next year, and we can’t let Democrats go unchecked for two more years.”

Rep. Davids was at the White House in mid-March when President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2022. The law provides federal funding to organizations that serve victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, the incidence of such violence escalated.

Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, said the legislation enhanced prevention efforts, including on college campuses, and added tools to hold perpetrators accountable. It will deliver more resources for rural, LGBTQ and tribal communities, she said.

“It really addresses some of the jurisdictional issues that tribes face when trying to keep keep folks safe in their tribal communities, particularly for when things happen with someone who’s not native, who’s not from the community,” she said.

Davids said the federal government had a role to play in addressing possession of “ghost” or unregistered firearms, including the weapon used in the March shooting by an Olathe East High School student of a school administrator and school resource officer.

“It’s really upsetting and heartbreaking that we even have a situation where kids and teachers and folks who work in schools even have to ever worry about these kinds of issues,” Rep. Davids said.

Davids said state and federal officials should drive good policy designed to get untraceable weapons out of circulation. Demand for these firearms is greatest among people who can’t walk into a gun store and pass a background check. The Congress, she said, could move ahead with legislation closing loopholes in federal law on firearm possession.

She said the U.S. House and U.S. Senate have worked on versions of the America Competes Act, which would revitalize the country’s research, innovation and manufacturing sectors to expand domestic manufacturing. It is a piece to the economic puzzle along with major infrastructure and budget bills signed by Biden.

“When you’re looking at bringing manufacturing home, domestically, all of these things are going to be able to work together. At least for an infrastructure nerd .. it’s kind of a cool series of bills to see coming across,” Rep. Davids said.

Rep. Davids also endorsed legislation requiring members of the U.S. House and U.S. Senate to place personal investments into a blind trust to reduce use of insider information by lawmakers. It’s been alleged members of Congress relied on early warnings of COVID-19 to alter investment portfolios.

“Regardless of whether or not any laws at that time were broken, it was clearly inappropriate, at a minimum. People need to be able to trust that we’re here to serve in the public interest.”

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2022/03/28/davids-gops-gerrymander-of-3rd-district-map-a-gambit-to-thwart-will-of-voters/.

U.S. Rep. Davids denounces gerrymandering of congressional district boundaries

Davids seeks passage of federal election reform bill ahead of 2022 elections

by Tim Carpenter, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids lashed out Wednesday at politicians motivated by personal and partisan gain to create a gerrymandered map of congressional districts in Kansas that effectively silences the electoral voice of voters in the Kansas City region.

Davids is seeking re-election in the 3rd District anchored by Wyandotte and Johnson counties, but boundaries of all four districts in Kansas could be significantly altered by the Kansas Legislature before voters head to the polls for the August primary and November general elections.

“There are leaders in the Kansas Legislature who have explicitly stated their motivation to gerrymander maps to their party’s political advantage,” she said. “I know people are tired of feeling like billionaires have more of a say than they do in our democracy, tired of having their voices taken away by partisan gerrymandering.”

She said some elected public officials were placing their partisan political goals above the public’s interests, which was “truly insulting to folks that not only want but deserve to have their voices listened to.”

Each state’s congressional map is redrawn every decade to reflect population shifts, and former Kansas Senate President Susan Wagle said the 2022 election cycle was an opportunity to advance GOP candidates. Other Kansas Republicans have expressed a desire to shifting the boundaries in Kansas to undermine Davids’ re-election.

The map-making work could get awkward because usurping Davids could increase obstacles to re-election of U.S. Rep. Jake LaTurner, a Republican serving the neighboring 2nd District in eastern Kansas, or influence the campaigns of GOP Congressmen Ron Estes of the mostly urban 4th District and Tracey Mann of the rural 1st District.

On Wednesday, Davids was part of an online news conference with two congressional colleagues and a pair of election reform advocates to encourage the U.S. Senate to approve the Freedom to Vote Act. Major elements of the legislation have been adopted by the U.S. House.

The bill would attempt to bring an end to partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts, initiate an overhaul of the federal campaign finance system and create safeguards against subversion of the electoral process.

It would create baseline national standards that supersede more restrictive state voting rules by establishing minimum standards for early and mail voting, modernizing voter registration and restoring the right to vote to formerly incarcerated people. In addition, it would strengthen legal standards for challenging laws that burden voting rights and tackle the problem of dark money in political campaigns.

Former U.S. attorney general Eric Holder, who serves as chairman of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, said federal action on the Freedom to Vote Act was necessary to moderate action by state GOP politicians and federal GOP lawmakers who seek to hold on to “power at all costs.”

“Our democracy is at a crossroads,” Holder said. “We’re on the verge of, I think, a political apartheid system where we have minority rule.”

Tiffany Muller, a former Kansan who is president of End Citizens United/Let America Vote Action Fund, said activities of the Republican Party amounted to a “brazen power grab” driven by those who benefit from a rigged system of gerrymandering and the influence of untraceable campaign contributions.

“It’s designed to eliminate accountability in Washington so that the system serves the corporate special interests and dark money groups rather than the voters,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, a Democrat from Texas, and U.S. Rep. Kathy Manning, a North Carolina Democrat, also urged the U.S. Senate to take up legislation to thwart gerrymandering of congressional districts through adoption of the Freedom to Vote Act.

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.org, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2021/12/01/u-s-rep-davids-denounces-gerrymandering-of-congressional-district-boundaries/

Davids joined president for infrastructure bill signing

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, D-3rd Dist., joined President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday at the White House as the president officially signed the historic bipartisan infrastructure bill into law.

Rep. Davids serves as vice chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

“It was an honor and a privilege to join President Biden as he signed the historic bipartisan infrastructure bill into law today,” Rep. Davids said. “Every step of the way, as we worked across the aisle to pass infrastructure legislation that creates good-paying jobs, makes strides against climate change, and sets the foundation for long-term growth, I pushed to make sure the Kansas Third was a part of the conversation. Signing this bill into law today is a big step—but it is not the final step. I’m going to continue advocating for these funds to come to our community.”

“I want to thank Representative Davids for her hard work passing the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. For too long we’ve neglected investments in critical areas that directly impact American workers, American businesses and American families. One of the many historic investments in this bill is the effort to bridge the digital divide and ensure all Americans have access to reliable, affordable broadband. Broadband is not a luxury, it’s a necessity. Thanks to President Biden’s vision and the Congresswoman’s tireless effort to get this passed, we can now bring affordable broadband to every community in Kansas,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo.

Along with President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Rep. Davids joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers at Monday’s bill signing event, including federal, state, and local officials from across the country.