Sharice Davids, a Democrat, has defeated the incumbent, Republican Kevin Yoder, in the Kansas 3rd Congressional District race. With the win, Davids, one of a record number of Native American candidates running in the midterm elections, will become both the first Native American woman to serve in Congress, and the first LGBT person to ever represent the state of Kansas in Congress.
Davids, who was a White House fellow during the Obama Administration, is also a former professional mixed martial artist, one of many things she leaned on in her political ads.
Less than a month ago a Republican precinct committeeman sent a Facebook message saying, “your radical socialist kickboxing lesbian Indian will be sent back packing to the reservation.” That person has since resigned. Via The Kansas City Star:
“It’s significant beyond Kansas. This is significant to all LGBT folks in the Midwest. She really feels like the voice for all the LGBT folks in the Midwest. And I know that there’s a similar feeling in Native American communities,” said Davis Hammett, an LGBT rights activist from Topeka.
Yoder was a 4-term incumbent who voted for tax cuts and the appeal of the Affordable Care Act. He was also overseeing the bill to build Trump’s border wall.