Sharice Davids has an interesting background — she is Native American, openly lesbian, former mixed martial arts fighter and founded a coffee company. She’s also now the Democratic nominee for a U.S. House seat in Kansas.
Davids won the Tuesday primary in Kansas’ 3rd District and will face Republican incumbent Kevin Yoder in November.
Davids, 38 and an attorney, has a 1-1 record as an MMA fighter, last fighting four years ago.
“I have a lived experience that we need to see more of on all kinds of fronts, from having started off with an associate’s [degree] at a community college to being raised by a single mom, being a first generation college student,” she said prior to the election. “These things are not at all out of the ordinary for a lot of people in this country, but they are very out of the ordinary for the people who represent us in Congress.”
She is also among the more than 400 gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer candidates running for office this year — a new record, according to the New York Times. She said she hopes having LGBTQ people in Congress will help narrow some of Congress’ current blindspots, especially when it comes to anti-discrimination legislation.
The district is in the Kansas City suburbs and the influential Cook Political Report has made the race a toss-up:
Projection: Sharice Davids (D) wins Dem primary in #KS03, defeating Brent Welder (D). Faces off against Rep. Kevin Yoder (R) in the fall, who took just 68% in his primary. @CookPolitical rating will be moving from Lean R to Toss Up.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) August 8, 2018
