Sharice Davids is entertaining a Senate run — even after Kansas redistricting fizzled
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Davids keeps 2026 Senate option open while on high alert for redistricting.
- An analyst cites her bipartisan appeal and rural gains as statewide assets.
- Her Senate bid could turn the 3rd District into a competitive swing seat.
Kansas Republicans have so far made no serious push in 2026 to redraw the state’s congressional map since failing to muster the votes for a special session last November.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids remains on high alert.
The lone Democratic member of Kansas’ congressional delegation continues to openly entertain a potential Senate run against Republican Roger Marshall in his first bid for re-election.
“That option has to stay on the table until I know that they’re not continuing to look at that,” Davids said of mid-decade redistricting in an interview Tuesday.
Whether or not Kansas Republicans have any appetite for a renewed gerrymandering attempt, Davids has the makings of a serious Senate candidate, said Bob Beatty, a political science professor at Washburn University.
“She defeated an incumbent. She’s pretty popular in her district. She argues that she works very hard. And I do believe this (talk about redistricting) made her genuinely angry,” Beatty said in an interview.
Politico reported that Davids met in October to discuss the logistics of a run with California Senator Adam Schiff, the vice-chair for the 2026 Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
Davids recently embarked on a statewide tour with stops including an aviation research center in Wichita and a dairy farm in Colby. And she’s quick to weigh in on news from outside her northeast Kansas district, including plans for a south Kansas City ICE warehouse falling through.
She has also pointedly broken with her Democratic colleagues on several politically charged issues this year, including her decision not to sign onto the articles of impeachment against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Krisi Noem, and to fund DHS on a short-term basis while attempting to avert a government shutdown.
Highlighting where she’s bucked her own party leadership could actually burnish Davids’ image in a statewide contest, Beatty said. A carefully curated independent streak served then-Congressman Jerry Moran well on his path to the high chamber from the ruby-red 1st Congressional District, he said.
“You go back to his TV ads, and he’s obviously going to win re-election but he was — again, maybe it was best of both worlds — he was also positioning himself for a Senate run in which he’d have to win the whole state, and that includes moderate Republicans and Democrats,” Beatty said.
The traditionally GOP-leaning U.S. Chamber of Commerce gave Davids a key endorsement in her first re-election campaign in 2020, and the former mixed martial arts fighter routinely touts her work on the House Agriculture Committee.
Davids picked up more rural constituents in Miami, Franklin, and Anderson counties during the last round of partisan redistricting in 2022, when state lawmakers drew Lawrence and northern Wyandotte County — both progressive strongholds — out of the 3rd Congressional District.
Instead of losing ground, Davids increased her margin of victory to 12% in a rematch with her 2020 opponent, Amanda Adkins. She then defeated Republican challenger Prasanth Reddy by more than 10% in 2024.
Could Sharice Davids beat Roger Marshall?
Kansas hasn’t elected a Democrat to the Senate since George McGill in 1932.
Marshall, a doctor by trade and a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, has already secured the president’s endorsement.
Any Democrat who emerges from the August primary to take him on will be an underdog, Beatty said.
So far, candidates include retired corporate executive Sandy Spidel Neumann, real estate developer Erik Murray, former Biden USDA official Christy Davis, attorney Anne Parelkar, state Sen. Patrick Schmidt and Michael Soetaert of Wellington.
If Davids chooses to jump in the race, Beatty said he believes the primary would be all but a formality.
“I rarely make predictions, but that’s a hundred percent yes,” Beatty said. “Democrats, the only worry she’d have is that Democrats would have swooned so much that they’re not able to go vote on primary day, they’re so happy she’s running.”
Representatives for Marshall’s re-election campaign and Senate office did not return phone calls or respond to emails for this story. As of publication time, the Kansas Republican Party also did not provide a statement.
Beatty acknowledged that Davids running for Senate could also backfire on Democrats in November, when Republicans will defend a razor-thin majority in the House of Representatives.
The Kansas 3rd District is “not at all safe for Democrats in general” and would immediately become a swing district without Davids as an incumbent, he said.
That calculation will certainly also factor into Davids’ plans.
She suggested in comments to The Star that if the Kansas Legislature completes its work this spring without redrawing the state’s congressional map, she likely won’t seek higher office in 2026.
“Then I will absolutely look forward to continuing to serve the people in the 3rd District,” Davids said.
This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 5:30 AM.
