Making history in Kansas
“I was honestly picturing the flat-rural-farm-Kansas that exists in the western part of the state. Instead, I found a vibrant and diverse urban community that I have fallen in love with,” says Chris Gentry, Progressive Turnout Project’s District Director in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District (KS-03).
KS-03, which includes Kansas City and the surrounding metropolitan area, runs along the state’s eastern border with Missouri. According to The Cook Political Report, the District’s voters are 72.8% Non-Hispanic White, 11.6% Hispanic or Latino, 8.6% Black or African-American, and 7% Asian, Native American or Other.
Since the 1950s, KS-03 has only been represented by a Democratic Congressperson twice, for a total of 13 blue years, but that’s set to change when District voters elect Democratic candidate Sharice Davids to office in November.
Davids, a civil rights lawyer and activist, is so well poised to unseat Republican incumbent Kevin Yoder that in late September, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) “canceled more than $1 million in planned advertising” previously pledged to him – a strong indication that party leadership has cut its losses in KS-03 and does not expect a victory.
Only a few days later, on October 3rd, The Cook Political Report changed its rating of the race for KS-03 from Toss Up to Lean Democratic.
Davids was inspired to run for Congress while serving as a White House Fellow “during the Obama-Trump transition,” and thus it is fitting that she has earned the endorsement of former President Barack Obama.
As a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, a Wisconsin-based Native American tribe, Davids has “lived and worked on Native American reservations, working with tribes to create economic development opportunities, programs, and initiatives.” She vows in campaign ads to fight for greater economic opportunity for all Americans in part by investing in education and ensuring that healthcare is affordable and available to everyone.
“Sharice [Davids] is a badass who has run a great campaign focusing on representation,” says Chris. “She has an enigmatic personality that has made it easy for voters to move toward her campaign.”
In KS-03, Chris says “the issues vary wildly depending on what part of the District you are in, so in Johnson County a lot of folks are talking about women’s rights, environmental issues, and education funding, while in Wyandotte County issues of police brutality, immigration, and education tend to be more popular.”
Since moving to the District, Chris has dedicated all of his free time to total immersion in the District’s political community, becoming involved in a number of local issue-based campaigns and working with the End Cash Bail Movement that he says is picking up strength in Wyandotte County. These extracurricular activities have no doubt sharpened Chris’s astute perceptions of the District and made him into an even more effective political organizer.
One day while block-walking the District, Chris found himself at the door of an 89-year-old woman who happened to be the former Democratic Precinct Chair. She promptly invited Chris into her home and told him all about how the local Democratic Party used to be run. Before sending Chris on his way, she confided that she hadn’t been able to vote in the last election because she didn’t have access to a mail-in ballot.
“I fixed that for her and she thanked me for the work we’re doing to change the political world of Kansas,” Chris says.
This traditionally Republican District voted for Hillary Clinton, albeit by a small margin, in the 2016 Presidential election, which is a significant departure from 2012 when Barack Obama lost KS-03 to Mitt Romney by nine percentage points.
According to Chris, “A win in this District will mean that Wyandotte County, which historically has not been represented, will finally have a person of color to represent them in Congress.” He adds, “I think that as long as Wyandotte County shows up in November then we will take not only this seat, but it will go a long way toward winning what is going to be a nail-biter in the Governor’s race.”
Kansas’ sitting governor, Jeff Colyer, a Republican, was sworn into office on January 1st of this year, and his last day is scheduled for December 31st, also of this year. Colyer lost the Republican nomination to sitting Secretary of State Kris Kobach, a former Trump campaign advisor whose own Gubernatorial campaign message is, effectively, guns are good and “illegal” immigration is bad.
The Democratic candidate for Governor, Laura Kelly, is a four-term State Senator who “immediately built a reputation as a no-nonsense leader who could work with both Republicans and Democrats to get things done.” In today’s political climate, Kelly’s commitment to bipartisanship may very well go a long way toward swaying undecided and Independent voters over to her camp.
Among the issues of greatest importance to Kelly are improving healthcare and education in Kansas, and working to undo the damage done to state finances under former Governor Sam Brownback’s now-repealed tax plan. In August, The Cook Political Report changed its rating of the Gubernatorial race from Likely Republican to Toss Up.
With less than a week until Election Day, Chris and the rest of the Progressive Turnout Team in Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District remain hard at work and committed to doing their part in order to ensure wins for Sharice Davids for Congress and Laura Kelly for Governor.
Of his post-election plans, Chris says, “I have always had a passion for progressive organizing and I will continue this work. My dream is to eventually start my own organization to train rural Democratic parties on how to rebuild and start to take back the rural poor from the Republican voter base, but that is some years down the road.”
In the meantime, Chris expects that he will be training more Progressive political organizers “not just in Kansas but across the country, or you will find me back in Appalachia working on environmental issues.”
Wherever Chris ends up, he’s sure to make a difference.
