WASHINGTON — On the night Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed the Kansas Legislature’s congressional map, the lawmaker most likely to be affected, Rep. Sharice Davids, didn’t have much to say publicly.
“Rep. Davids is focused on her work in Congress to lower costs for Kansas families and represent the people of the 3rd District, and she supports a fair redistricting process in which all Kansans have their voices heard and heeded,” her campaign spokeswoman, Ellie Turner, said.
It’s a line her campaign has repeated throughout the redistricting process, an attempt to appear above the contentious debate in Topeka, where the Legislature narrowly voted Wednesday to override Kelly’s veto.
The map, which splits Wyandotte County into two different congressional districts roughly along Interstate 70, is likely to face a legal challenge. If it’s upheld, Davids would face a tougher reelection bid in a year where Republicans are favored to win back the U.S. House of Representatives.
But while Davids’ campaign’s official statements make it appear she’s staying out of the fight, she’s still raising money off it. And her emails take a much stronger stand on redistricting.
“If we want to preserve our democracy, we cannot allow the voices of Black and Brown voters to be silenced by the Kansas GOP,” an email on Feb. 4, the day after Kelly vetoed the redistricting map, said. It was titled “Do you support fair maps?” and asked people to sign a survey, a technique campaigns use to bolster their fundraising lists.
It’s just one of several emails her campaign staff has sent out over the past few weeks seeking donations from Democrats frustrated by redistricting.
In November, a fundraising email said Republicans were going to redistrict Davids into a tougher reelection fight. A January email asked for money “NOW” to combat a “faulty” redistricting process. Another, part of an “original message” from Davids in January, said the Republican Party wasn’t being transparent about the redrawn lines and urged donors to help build resources to connect with voters.
Davids' most recent fundraising report shows she collected $2.8 million in 2021.
When asked why she appeared to be largely sitting out the conversation about redistricting while her fundraising emails sounded the alarm, Turner again stuck to the campaign’s public line.
“Rep. Davids continues to call for a fair redistricting process in which Kansans’ voices are heard and heeded,” Turner said. “Her priority remains on delivering for the people of the 3rd District, including by fighting for federal policy that reduces the influence of partisan politicians and dark money in our elections.”
There is only so much Davids can do about redistricting, which is conducted every 10 years based on population shifts recorded by the census.
She is a member of Congress, not the Kansas Legislature, so she doesn’t get to vote on the new map. She is also the only Democrat in the congressional delegation and redistricting is controlled by Republicans, making her a target for partisan gerrymandering.
A recent attempt in Congress to prevent gerrymandering — a provision in a larger elections bill — failed to get enough votes to pass the Senate. That prompted a call to eliminate the filibuster, the rule that requires 60 senators to support most bills. That vote also failed.
Davids supported the bill when it passed the House of Representatives and has continued to advocate for it amid Kansas’ redistricting. In a January appearance on MSNBC, Davids was asked about her situation and instead pivoted to her support for the federal voting bills, saying partisan gerrymandering isn’t happening just in Kansas, but across the country.
The fundraising emails align more with what local Democrats and advocacy groups are saying about the Republican-sponsored maps.
One of the most vocal opponents of the redistricting process has been the League of Women Voters of Kansas, which submitted its own congressional map.
Martha Pint, league co-president said it has felt like the Republican-approved map (called "ad astra," Latin for “to the stars”) was preordained. She said she hadn’t paid attention to whether Davids was taking a vocal stance against the maps, but said she wants as many voices involved in the process as possible.
“Any time that we can get the most public input and involvement and voice is just all the better at shining that light on the entire process and the outcome,” Pint said.
Equality Kansas, an LGBTQ advocacy group, has also been vocal in opposing the new maps. Tom Witt, executive director of the organization, said that of 284 pieces of testimony submitted for the congressional maps 87% was either opposed or neutral.
Witt said his group was doing everything it could to protect the seat of the first openly LGBTQ member of Congress from Kansas, but that he didn’t mind that she hasn’t been a more vocal opponent of the map.
“Well, she’s not in the Kansas Legislature,” Witt said. “She doesn’t have vote on the maps. And I’m sure she has plenty to do back where y’all are there in D.C.”
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