With tight Davids-Yoder race, JoCo and WyCo voters could determine fate of U.S. House
Voters in the Kansas suburbs could play a pivotal role in determining whether the U.S. House remains in Republican hands or shifts to Democratic control.
Democrat Sharice Davids, a former White House fellow, is seeking to oust four-term Republican incumbent Rep. Kevin Yoder in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District, which includes Johnson and Wyandotte counties and parts of Miami County. The district narrowly went for Hillary Clinton in 2016 but has not elected a Democrat to Congress in a decade.
“Too many of us have gone through our entire lives not feeling seen and not feeling heard,” Davids told hundreds of supporters Monday night at a rally in Overland Park.
Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, would be the first Native American woman elected to Congress — a distinction she’ll potentially share with New Mexico Democrat Deb Haaland if both women prevail in their U.S. House races Tuesday.
She would also be the first openly LGBT person to represent Kansas at the federal level.
Davids said she felt “realistically optimistic” about her chances of prevailing in the race after her Monday rally with former Houston Mayor Annise Parker, the president of the Victory Fund, a group that works to elect LGBT candidates.
Yoder, a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, has won the seat by double digits in the last four elections, but he has trailed in every public poll since the August primary.
However, Yoder voiced confidence that he had narrowed the gap through an aggressive performance in last week’s Kansas City Star-hosted debate and packed schedule of campaign events in the final two weeks.
“We’ve felt a noticeable shift over the past week to two weeks in momentum of folks coming back home, whether they were for us and are now more energized or whether they were undecided,” Yoder said during a stop at Slap’s BBQ in Kansas City, Kan., where he and volunteers chowed down on ribs between campaign events.
“We talk to people every day wherever we go that say, ‘Oh my gosh, that debate,’” Yoder said.
The candidates have spent a combined $8.2 million on the race, and outside groups have spent another $7.5 million, a reflection of the fact that both sides think the district is up for grabs.
On Monday, a mile north of where Yoder had lunch, a steady stream of voters braved the rain to cast their ballots early at the Wyandotte County Election Office.
Chandler Herron, a 20-year-old musician from Kansas City, Kan., pointed to education as the main reason he voted for Davids, who has campaigned on increasing access to early childhood education and reining in the cost of college.
“I just felt like she can have my back in office and she could have my back in a fight,” Herron said, referencing Davids’ stint as a mixed martial arts fighter.
Mike McIntosh, a 55-year-old contractor, said Davids’ promise to reopen a district office in Wyandotte County demonstrates that she’ll prioritize the needs of the whole district. Yoder only has an office in Johnson County.
“That’s the difference. If you’re going to represent the people you (should) be where the people are to represent and not somewhere else. He’s strictly on one side,” McIntosh said.
Stefon King, a 55-year-old respiratory therapist, said Yoder has earned another term in Congress. He pointed to Yoder’s sponsorship of a bill to preserve the ruins of the Quindaro Townsite in KCK, an important stop on the Underground Railroad, as evidence of his commitment to the community.
“If you call Yoder, he’ll set up an appointment. He’ll meet with you,” King said. “I just haven’t seen her experience in politics. I don’t think hanging out with Obama is enough experience.”
King, an unaffiliated voter, said he voted for Democrats in the statewide races for governor and insurance commissioner.
Yoder said he’s “always counted on split tickets to win races.”
Jeremiah James, a 36-year-old salesman from Overland Park, pointed to Yoder’s work on disability issues as the reason he supported the incumbent when he cast his ballot at the Overland Park Church of the Nazarene Tuesday morning.
“Yoder’s done a lot for us in the past,” said James, who has two children with Fragile X syndrome, a developmental disorder. “He’s always voted for us for different things that we’ve asked him for better benefits, to care, even for early intervention. … He’s come out and talked to us in D.C. one on one.”
Yoder was a co-sponsor of the ABLE Act, a 2014 law that enabled the creation of tax-free savings accounts for children with disabilities.
But other voters pointed said that Yoder has failed to stand up to President Donald Trump, and they’re ready for a change.
“I think a lot of people my age are disappointed that we should have done more in the last election,” said Nick Taylor, a 25-year-old graphic designer who voted at the Abdallah Shrine Center in Overland Park Tuesday morning. “And I think now’s our time. And knowing that Yoder kind of sides with Trump on a lot of things, that helped me lean toward Sharice.”
Tiana Wiscomb, a 30-year-old Overland Park resident, voted for the first time ever at the Overland Park Church of the Nazarene Tuesday morning. She voted a straight Democratic ticket.
“I feel like women need to vote more because we need to stand up against Trump,” she said.