Kadin Mills
ICT
WASHINGTON — Kansas held its primary elections on Aug. 6. At least three Indigenous political candidates ran for office in primaries, but only one will advance to the general election.
U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, is running for reelection to the House of Representatives. She ran unopposed in the state’s Democratic primary and will move on to challenge Republican Prasanth Reddy in the general election on Nov. 5.
Davids first took office in 2019, representing Kansas’ third congressional district spanning six counties. It envelops most of the Kansas portion of the Kansas City metropolitan area.
For nearly six years — her entire time in office — Davids has served on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the Small Business Committee. She has recently celebrated securing federal support for 15 infrastructure projects in her district, worth nearly $16 million. Davids has also campaigned on her support for small businesses and the local economy.
There are also two Indigenous candidates running for state Legislature.
Brittany Hall, Shawnee, ran to represent state House district 46, but she lost to Brooklynne Mosley in the Democratic primaries after winning just over 27 percent of the vote. Incumbent Dennis Highberger is not running for reelection.
Christina Haswood, Diné, ran for a seat in the state Senate for district 2. She lost to the incumbent, Marci Francisco, with nearly 43 percent of the vote. Haswood has served in the state House of Representatives since 2021.
Jaelynn Abegg, Cherokee, withdrew from her bid for the state House. She announced in April she would no longer run to represent district 105. Abegg previously ran for office in 2022 and lost in the general election.
Continue to visit ictnews.org for updates on these races.
The database is not complete and ICT encourages people to email political correspondent Pauly Denetclaw at pauly@ictnews.org and political reporting intern Kadin Mills at kadin@ictnews.org to add a past or current 2024 candidate to the database.
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