Kansas Rep. Sharice Davids could make run for US Senate seat in 2026

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas Republicans were in Washington, D.C. Wednesday meeting with President Donald Trump’s policy staffers.

Democrats think they’re talking about redistricting the congressional lines in the state while Republicans are painting a bit of a different picture.

A spokeswoman for Republican Senate President Ty Masterson said redistricting was not on the lawmakers’ agenda Wednesday. But Democratic congresswoman Sharice Davids had a different take in a news conference she held that morning.

She was asked whether she’d run for Republican U.S. Senator Roger Marshall’s seat in 2026, especially if state lawmakers change her congressional district to make it tougher for her to win.

“If they continue forward on this path, and they’re successful in this, at this point, all I can say is that every option is on the table, including a statewide run,” she said, talking about state lawmakers.

Davids, of Roeland Park, Kansas, is the only Democrat in the state’s congressional delegation. While Republicans in Washington, D.C. wouldn’t speak to FOX4 on camera Wednesday, House Speaker Dan Hawkins sent us a statement.

“In the midst of the Sharice shutdown, one would think the congresswoman would be more concerned about reopening the government than playing partisan politics,” Hawkins said. “If she did her job and represented her constituents rather than the most extreme elements in the Democrat party we wouldn’t each be feeling the impact of the Sharice shutdown.”

Hawkins and Masterson were both in D.C. Wednesday. Davids was actually there, too.

“The only way for the Kansas Republican legislature to do what they have said their intention is – to gerrymander this so that I can’t win reelection – is for them to break up Johnson County,” she said that day.

All of Johnson County, Kansas, the state’s most populous county, is currently in the congresswoman’s district. More than 460,000 registered voters are in it. 40% of those voters are registered as Republicans. About 32% are Democrats. More than 26% of the county’s voters aren’t associated with any political party.

On Monday, state lawmakers voted to set aside more than $400,000 for a potential four-day-long special session, but it won’t happen without a petition signed by at least two-thirds of the State House and Senate.

“This is very important to Kansas; it’s very important to the White House, too,” Republican State House Rep. Pat Proctor said. “So, I’d expect that any folks that are reluctant to sign are probably going to be getting a phone call from a very important person who is very interested in us riding the ship and making sure that we have fair representation in Kansas that reflects the will of the voters.”

Republicans hope the legislative special session will start Nov. 7.