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- By Levi Rickert
Native Vote. According to a Politico article published on Monday morning, Rep. Sharice Davids, the lone Democrat in Kansas’ congressional delegation, is considering a U.S. Senate run as the state’s Republican-controlled Legislature debates whether to redraw her district to favor GOP candidates.
Davids, a tribal citizen of the Ho-Chunk Nation, entered the House of Representatives in January 2019 with Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo). The two were the first Native American women elected to the House.
Keeping all of her options open, Davids recently met with Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., to discuss the logistics of a potential Senate campaign and seek advice from a lawmaker who made the transition from the House to the Senate, according to a person familiar with the conversation. Schiff serves as a vice chair for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for the 2026 election cycle.
Republicans in the Kansas Senate are weighing changes to Davids’ Kansas City-area district as part of a broader national effort to strengthen their position in the U.S. House. GOP lawmakers across the country are reportedly looking to redraw as many as 19 districts ahead of the 2026 midterms — a move Democrats have started to challenge in courts and in public messaging.
Kansas legislators are set to convene in a special session later this week to take up the redistricting proposal. However, it remains unclear whether there is enough support in the Kansas House of Representatives, where some lawmakers have criticized the idea of mid-decade redistricting as setting a troubling precedent.
Davids, who has represented much of the Kansas City metro area since 2019, signaled last month that she may seek statewide office if Republicans move forward with the plan.
“If [Kansas Republicans] continue forward on this path, and they’re successful in this, at this point, all I can say is that every option is on the table, including a statewide run,” Davids said during a press conference.
In a statement last week, Davids’ office denounced the redistricting push as a “power grab” and said she “remains focused on representing [Kansans] in whatever capacity best allows her to do so.”
Since being in office, the Republicans redrew the congressional district lines to include more rural — GOP-leaning —voters. However, Davids dug in through aggressive campaigning. She beat her GOP oppenent by almost 12 points in 2024.
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kan., is up for reelection in 2026.
Spokespeople for Davids and Schiff did not respond to requests for comment.
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