Davids, Kansas’ only Democrat, faces Adkins, the GOP challenger, in a rematch U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids sought Tuesday a third term to represent her Kansas City-area swing congressional district. Republicans hoped that midterm momentum would oust him as the only Democrat in Kansas’ congressional delegation. After the redistricting of the 3rd District by the GOP made it more difficult for Davids, Davids was forced to rematch her opponent, Amanda Adkins. Adkins, like other GOP congressional candidates focused on crime and high inflation and tried to link President Joe Biden to the Democratic incumbent. Davids emphasized federal funding for local projects as well as efforts to lower the cost of prescription drugs. However, Adkins and other Democrats aggressively attacked Adkins over abortion. Adkins supported an anti-abortion Kansas Constitution amendment that was rejected by voters in August. Davids opposed it. MIDTERM ELECTIONS : LIVE UPDATES Davids was the first Native American lesbian to be elected to Congress. She is a lawyer and a former mixed martial artist fighter. In 2018, she defeated Kevin Yoder, a four-term GOP incumbent. This was because suburban voters turned against Donald Trump. GOP attempts to portray her as a radical libertarian have been thwarted by her measured persona. Adkins was a former executive at Cerner Corp., a health care technology company, and a former chair of the Kansas Republican Party. Johnson County, Kansas City’s most populous County, was the key to their race. The county is heavily Republican, but Davids won it in 2020. Adkins wanted to win back moderate and independent Republicans upset by the economy. The Republican-controlled state Legislature redrew congressional districts earlier this year to rebalance their populations after a decade of shifts and split the Kansas City, Kansas, area. Davids’ district lost areas she has performed well and was able to pick up heavily Republican areas within three northeastern Kansas county. HTML3_ MIDTERM ELSECTIONS 2022 ARE NOW UNDERWAY, VOTERS HEAD TO POOLS, CONTROL OF THE CONGRESS IS ON BALLOT If the new lines had been in place in 2020, both Davids and Biden’s 10-point margins would have been reduced in half. Republicans also counted on economic issues to help them bridge the gap in this year’s election. The August state abortion vote was a strong endorsement for Democrats. Adkins stated that abortion should be settled by states and that she would not support a federal law on abortion. Adkins is not specific about her opinion on Kansas’ abortion laws. Kansas bans most abortions at 22 weeks. However, Adkins stated that she would support any incremental state measures that would decrease abortions. Despite the 3rd District’s more Republican leanings in August, 67.5% opposed the anti-abortion measure. The three other U.S. House incumbents, all Republicans, were expected to win reelection. They are Tracey Man, in a 1st district redrawn to include the liberal northeastern Kansas community, Lawrence, as well as rural central and western Kansas. Jake LaTurner is in the 2nd district of eastern Kansas. Ron Estes is in the 4th district in the Wichita region.