Davids, Reddy spar over abortion and the economy in sole Kansas 3rd District debate
Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids and Republican Prasanth Reddy attacked each other over abortion on Thursday during the only debate of the race, as the candidates seek to win over voters in the final days before the election.
Reddy, a Johnson County physician seeking to oust Davids, a three-term incumbent in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District, hit Davids over inflation he said was fueled by federal spending. Davids said Reddy was criticizing spending legislation that helped control the national debt.
The sharp exchanges came during a live-streamed debate hosted by Kansas City PBS, KCUR and the Johnson County Post. The encounter marked the first – and only – time the candidates will face each other before Election Day.
Abortion and reproductive rights have been central to Davids’ campaign to again win the 3rd District, which includes southern Wyandotte County, Johnson County and rural areas southwest of the Kansas City metro. Davids on Thursday said Reddy was untrustworthy on the issue and had been endorsed by the anti-abortion group Kansans for Life.
“My opponent has indicated he wants state-level politicians inserting themselves in this process. I’m telling everyone right now I don’t think any politician should be involved in this process, not at the state level or federal level,” Davids said. “That is something that is out of step with the Kansas 3rd and the state of Kansas.”
During his campaign, Reddy has attempted a balancing act on abortion – indicating he opposes it, with exceptions, while stressing that he respects the August 2022 vote rejecting a state constitutional amendment that would have allowed state lawmakers to ban abortion. His campaign website indicates the issue of abortion should be left to the states.
“I am not for a national abortion ban, I am saying it to folks that are watching this show, I am for exceptions and I am not for federal dollars going to fund abortions,” Reddy said. “So the short answer there is that is my position, I feel confident in that and it’s sad that we’re dealing with misinformation in this election.”
Reddy said Kansans for Life hadn’t endorsed him. But KFL PAC, the group’s political arm, has endorsed Reddy in its “pro-life endorsement guide.”
Davids throughout the one-hour debate sought to link Reddy to national Republicans, saying he had associated himself with extreme GOP figures. She named House Speaker Mike Johnson, who has supported a national abortion ban and has also said he doesn’t anticipate the House passing such a bill next year.
“It’s not you specifically, it’s that you have accepted and are aligning yourself with people who no one can trust on this,” Davids told Reddy.
Reddy said he doesn’t agree with everyone who supports him.
“We have to be thoughtful and we have to tell people why we believe what we believe,” Reddy said. “And that begins with trust and truth.”
The debate, less than two weeks before the Nov. 5 election, comes as all signs point to Davids having the upper hand in the race. Davids has raised nearly $3 million more than Reddy over the course of the campaign.
The Congressional Leadership Fund, a political action committee associated with House Republican Leadership, has highlighted Reddy’s campaign, but it has not invested in the race in the final weeks of the election in the way it has for candidates in other competitive districts.
No public polling has been available in the race. Davids has increased her margin of victory in every election since she was first elected in 2018, most recently winning in 2022 by 12 points.
During the debate, Reddy repeatedly criticized the Inflation Reduction Act, a package of roughly $500 billion in new spending and tax breaks passed by Congress in 2022 that Davids supported. He said the increased funding had placed inflationary pressure on the economy.
“We have got to control spending,” Reddy said. At a different point, he said “we’ve got to control the source of inflation and that initially starts with spending.”
Davids pointed to investments the Inflation Reduction Act and other legislation have made possible.
“I was actually proud to support legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act, that brought down prescription drug costs,” Davids said. “Almost 74,000 Kansans are seeing savings of almost 80% because we finally got Medicare the right to negotiate these prescription drug costs.”
On immigration, Davids faulted former President Donald Trump for opposing a bipartisan immigration deal that would have changed the asylum system and enhanced border enforcement. Davids said Reddy had been in line with Trump on the deal.
“He has indicated that he would not support the bipartisan efforts,” Davids said.
Reddy emphasized that he wasn’t currently in Congress. But he indicated that he supported HR 2, a bill pushed by the Republican-controlled House that wasn’t considered for a vote in the Senate because Democrats viewed it as a “cruel, extreme, unworkable” bill.
“There was nothing in that bill, that my opponent voted against, that was a bad thing.”
Still, the two candidates were able to find at least one area of agreement over the course of the debate: Reducing student loan debt.
Both Davids and Reddy said they oppose efforts by President Joe Biden to forgive student loan debt and believe that there should be other paths for bringing down the cost of college education.
This story was originally published October 24, 2024 at 4:42 PM.
