Manhattan Mayor Reddi ends U.S. Senate bid; Bollier becomes only Dem in Kansas race
Manhattan Mayor Usha Reddi has suspended her campaign for U.S. Senate, saying she needs to focus on her local duties during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Participating in our joint response to the pandemic is the most important work of my life. COVID-19 meetings and calls will continue to demand 100% of my focus for the foreseeable future,” Reddi said in a statement Thursday announcing her withdrawal from the race to replace retiring Sen. Pat Roberts.
Riley County, which includes Manhattan, has 60 cases of the COVID-19 virus, according to data from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.
Reddi, who immigrated to the U.S. from India as a child, would have been the first Hindu elected to the U.S. Senate had she succeeded her in campaign.
The Manhattan Democrat’s decision to end her campaign before the June 1 filing deadline effectively hands the Democratic nomination to state Sen. Barbara Bollier, a Johnson County lawmaker seeking to be first Democrat to win a Kansas Senate race since 1932.
Bollier, who left the Republican party after the 2018 elections, was already heavy favorite to the win the party’s August primary. She has raised nearly $3.5 million to Reddi’s roughly $150,000 and received endorsements from Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly among other prominent Democrats.
“Usha Reddi is an inspiration to so many Kansans. Through her work as a teacher, a city commissioner, and the mayor of Manhattan, and also through her personal fight against sexual assault and discrimination, she has set an impressive example of hard work, dedication and integrity as she faced down many challenges,” Bollier said in a statement.
Reddi launched her candidacy just weeks after her father, Venkata Yeleti, pleaded guilty in Virginia to raping her as a child and received a one-year prison sentence. She spoke often about being a survivor of sexual violence during the campaign.
