Four candidates are looking to oust incumbent U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids from the Kansas 3rd Congressional District seat.
Davids has held the seat through four elections, one redrawing of her district, and another redistricting attempt. Her challengers say her time in Washington has made her serve political insiders rather than Kansans.
After flipping the seat formerly held by four-term GOP Rep. Kevin Yoder, Davids has boasted about her bipartisanship. Her Democratic primary challenger, Sarah Preu, wants the seat to take a hard left.
Where Davids has spoken out against the Leavenworth CoreCivic detention facility and declared “thoughtful immigration enforcement is necessary,” Preu would abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Davids’ Libertarian challenger, Steve Hohe, accuses her of being part of the “DC Swamp,” more interested in serving the Washington establishment than representing her constituents.
Her Republican challengers say voters should send a veteran, not a career politician, to Washington. Though Davids speaks frequently about being raised by an Army veteran, her mother, she didn’t serve in the U.S. Armed Forces herself.
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 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 Davids’ district — has become bluer 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. While that was happening, Davids flirted with running for Senate.
Davids has raised the most campaign money with $3.5 million, Preu follows with $17,500 and Republican Eric Jenkins with $16,000. The other Republican candidate and the Libertarian candidate don’t have any data filed with the Federal Election Commission.
The Democratic candidates
Sharice Davids — Democratic 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: After more than seven years in office, Davids’ has a robust record on many key issues showcased on her campaign site
She values lowering costs for Kansans through efforts like incentivizing Panasonic to build their manufacturing plant in De Soto. She wants to expand Medicaid, and 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.
Sarah Preu — Democratic primary candidate
Political experience: Preu has never held an elected office, but she canvassed for Davids.
She leans further left than Davids, and says Davids’ stance on ICE, healthcare and her acceptance of corporate political action committee donations has led her to “stop representing us.”
“Davids claims a high bipartisanship rate,” Preu wrote on her campaign website. “But bipartisanship is only a virtue when both sides are negotiating in good faith. When one side is dismantling democracy, meeting in the middle isn't courage. It's drift.”
What else? Preu has vowed not to take money from corporate political action committees. Davids has around $3.5 million in donations, and Preu has $17,500, or 0.5% of Davids’ funding.
Preu says staying away from corporate PAC dollars is one of her top priorities.
“I think every American is feeling the crunch of our politics and our laws, really feeling like they’re being written for the benefit of the folks that have pulled in the most dollars,” Preu told KCUR.
Platform: While she’s registered to run as a Democrat, her approach to governance largely aligns with Democratic Socialists. Preu’s positions go a step further than Davids’ — abolishing ICE, Medicare for All and no donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
She’s written policy papers on her approach to moving real estate away from private equity and how to avoid government shutdowns. She wrote a toolkit on how to fight data centers.
The overarching issues of her campaign are: abolishing ICE, establishing healthcare as a human right, building the middle class, reining in AI, green energy initiatives and getting money out of politics.
The Libertarian candidate
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 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 of her deception, lies or accusations but said she’s part of the “DC Swamp,” essentially calling Davids a self-serving politician.
While he’s not too active on Facebook, he’s dedicated a few posts to comparing the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce relationship to John Lennon and Yoko Ono.
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 reduce foreign military aid.
The Republican candidates
Eric Jenkins — Republican primary 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 groups.
Jenkins voted against the city ordinance aimed at protecting LGBTQ+ people from employment discrimination. 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, solidify 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 oppose the Green New Deal, 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 big fan 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 $15,000 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.
Chase LaPorte — Republican primary candidate
Political experience: LaPorte has never held an elected office.
His campaign website takes a harsher approach to being anti-career politician than Jenkins’. The first image visitors see reads “Send a veteran. Stop the politicians.” in a bold, all-caps font.
LaPorte says his candidacy has grassroots support. His Federal Election Commission financial page shows no data, though his campaign does accept donations.
LaPorte was originally challenging incumbent Kansas U.S. Senator Roger Marshall for the Republican nomination, but switched to the House. He sought the Republican nomination for governor in 2022, but withdrew his candidacy.
What else? One of LaPorte’s central identities is his military background. He served three deployments during the Iraq War.
He said Trump has handled the Iran war “hastily.” He wants the president to clearly state his objectives and avoid a ground invasion.
LaPorte’s website says that he learned the importance of showing up, listening and taking responsibility through his military service.
“He is not running because Washington needs another polished political personality,” his website reads. “He is running because Kansas deserves a representative who will answer the question, explain the decision, and remember who sent him there.”
Platform: Much of LaPorte’s campaign website focuses on the values LaPorte holds that would shape his time in Congress. According to his website, those are “service before self,” “tell the truth,” and “stay accountable.”
He said he’s over “consultant-speak,” and is dedicated to giving Kansans clear reasoning on his stances.
He’s got four core positions. One is term limits, since he believes career politicians “can become more accountable to party leadership, donors, and Washington institutions than to the people who elected them.” He wants Congress to spend responsibly, with a balanced budget. He wants better, clearer care for veterans. He places an emphasis on local decision-making and believes that communities know their needs better than the federal level does.
LaPorte’s 2022 gubernatorial campaign focused less on his military values and more on Christian values. His old campaign website outlines his belief in the “biblical standard” for marriage, families, and parenting. The website shows his opposition abortion, but also says “no government or organization has the right to regulate or direct your medical care or the care of your children.”