Kansas 2nd District Congresswoman sharice Davids has held her seat through four elections, one redrawing of her district, and another redistricting attempt.
After flipping the seat formerly held by four-term GOP Rep. Kevin Yoder, Davids has boasted about her bipartisanship — especially her legislation that has passed during President Donald Trump’s administration.
Her Republican challenger, Jenkins, said voters should send a veteran, not a career politician, to Washington. Davids’ Congressional seat, which she’s been in for four terms, is her first elected position
He says Davids’ support of the Biden-Harris administration hurt the economy and Kansans.
Jenkins and Hohe say Davids is serving political insiders more than Kansans.
Davids’ seat isn’t considered a battleground. She beat Yoder for the seat in 2018 — another midterm year with President Donald Trump in office — by nearly ten percentage points. She won her 2022 election after redistricting that Democrats said the Republican-held Kansas legislature engineered to dilute minority votes, by 12 percentage points.
Once considered purple, Johnson County — which makes up the bulk of the population for the third district — has become more Democratic-leaning with each election.
Responding to Trump’s call to boot Davids from her seat, Kansas Republicans tried — and failed — to redraw the map again this year.
Davids has raised the most campaign money with $3.7 million. Jenkins has $19,000.
Sharice Davids — Democratic candidate (incumbent)
Political experience: Davids has been Kansas’ 3rd district representative since 2019, after she beat Republican incumbent Kevin Yoder in the 2018 election.
She’s spent the majority of her career in politics, aside from a stint as a professional MMA fighter. She directed community and economic innovation for Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and was a White House fellow under former President Barack Obama and Trump.
Davids serves on the House transportation & infrastructure and agriculture committees.
What else? Davids blazed a trail. She’s the first openly LGBTQ+ person and the first Native American woman to represent Kansas in Congress. She and New Mexico representative Deb Haaland, also in her 2018 class of newly elected congresswomen, were the first Native women to serve in Congress, and she’s the first to be both Native and openly LGBTQ+.
She touts herself as a bipartisan, moderate leader, which has aggravated some of her further left-leaning constituents.
During her 2018 run, she initially said she favored abolishing ICE, then changed her tune. ICE continues to be a sticking point for her more liberal opponents. Though she has spoken out against detention facilities and raids, she was one of 21 Democrats who voted to temporarily fund the department. Davids said she voted for the funding to avoid an even longer government shutdown.
“I’ll keep working across the aisle to ensure our laws reflect both our values and our responsibility to keep communities safe and families secure,” she said.
Platform: She values lowering costs for Kansans through efforts like incentivizing Panasonic to build their manufacturing plant in De Soto. She wants to expand Medicaid as well as access to transportation and trade schools.
In her 2025 end-of-year wrap, Davids pointed to her dedication to staying connected to Kansans with 1,526 constituent meetings since 2019. She also highlighted her dedication to bipartisanship and the passage of her bill that helps people recovering from substance use disorder reenter the workforce.
Eric Jenkins — Republican candidate
Political experience: Jenkins served on the Shawnee City Council from 2015 to 2023, but lost his bid for reelection in 2023. He ran for Kansas House in 2016 and 2018 and lost both times.
Jenkins’s website emphasizes that he’s not a “career politician.” His website says he spent 34 years on active and reserve duty for the U.S. Army, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Jenkins spent the bulk of his professional career at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which coordinates government response after disasters.
What else? While on Shawnee City Council, Jenkins was part of left-leaning, split-down-the-middle, then right-leaning political makeups of the council.
Jenkins voted against the city ordinance aimed at protecting LGBTQ+ people from employment discrimination. He said there was no evidence of LGBTQ+ discrimination in the community. He voted to support the statewide ban on transgender athletes in girls sports.
While he served on the council, it slashed property taxes. Jenkins’ website says he “has been a consistent voice for fiscal restraint, opposing unnecessary spending increases and pushing back when government overreaches.”
Platform: His conservative agenda focuses on fiscal responsibility, national security, border security, the economy and constitutional law.
His website says he’d oppose deficit spending, make permanent Trump-era tax cuts and cut government red tape that burdens small businesses.
He’d fully fund the U.S. military, pull back on foreign involvement and support veterans’ healthcare and Kansas military installations.
His border security initiatives largely echo Trump’s, including a goal to defund cities that “obstruct federal immigration enforcement."
He’d fight for the U.S. to rely on its own energy sources and focus on trade deals that positively impact Kansas farmers.
He’s a supporter of the First and Second Amendments — the right to free speech and to bear arms — and would “oppose federal mandates that strip states and individuals of their autonomy.”
He’s received around $19,000 in donations, $10,000 of that from the Restoring Our Nation PAC, a Wichita-based conservative PAC with ties to Kansas U.S. Rep. Ron Estes.
Steve Hohe — Libertarian candidate
Political experience: Hohe isn’t a new name on the ballot. He ran in 2016, 2020, 2022, and is now back for 2026.
In 2024, he took his campaign from the federal to the state level and ran for the Kansas Statehouse.
Hohe’s campaign website is down, and he declined to speak with KCUR for this guide. Based on available records he has not held public office before.
2016 was Hohe’s most successful run, when he garnered 8% of the vote. In the other elections he received around 2.5%.
He spent time in the U.S. Air Force and works as a businessman.
What else? Addressing Davids on Facebook, Hohe wrote: “You have not created Unity, but Separation. Your deception, your lies, your accusations have pitted the Left against the Right.”
He didn’t provide examples, but said she’s part of the “DC Swamp,” essentially calling Davids a self-serving politician.
Platform: His primary goal is to downsize the federal government.
In 2016, he planned to do that by eliminating most social services and handing that responsibility to individual states. He said he’d keep Medicare and Social Security, but he’d repeal the Affordable Care Act.
He said he’d eliminate federal income tax and replace it with a tax on goods and services.
He’d also push to reduce foreign military aid.
